Letter to the Editor: Mastrevirus sequences in a begomovirus-infected plant

Recombination is a major driver of diversification of geminiviruses and is believed to be, for a large part, responsible for the present taxonomic structure of the family Geminiviridae. Examples of recent intergeneric recombination between viruses of the genera Begomovirus and Mastrevirus remain to be identified. Here, we show that one of the prerequisites for begomovirus-mastrevirus intergeneric recombination, co-infection of a single plant, does occur. The lack of reported recombination between viruses of these two genera may suggest that there are constraints to viable intergeneric recombinant viruses being produced, possibly due to the extreme genetic distances between extant begomo- and mastreviruses.