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Updated: May 17, 2026

Combining Analysis of DNA in a Crude Virion Extraction with the Analysis of RNA from Infected Leaves to Discover New Virus Genomes
Published on: July 27, 2018
Complete nucleotide sequences of two begomoviruses infecting Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) from
Muhammad Ilyas1, Kiran Nawaz, Muhammad Shafiq
1Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. milyassarwar@gmail.com
Abstract:
Though Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar periwinkle) is an ornamental plant, it is famous for its medicinal value. Its alkaloids are known for anti-cancerous properties, and this plant is studied mainly for its alkaloids. Here, this plant has been studied for its viral diseases. Complete DNA sequences of two begomoviruses infecting C. roseus originating from Pakistan were determined. The sequence of one begomovirus (clone KN4) shows the highest level of nucleotide sequence identity (86.5 %) to an unpublished virus, chili leaf curl India virus (ChiLCIV), and then (84.4 % identity) to papaya leaf curl virus (PaLCV), and thus represents a new species, for which the name "Catharanthus yellow mosaic virus" (CYMV) is proposed. The sequence of another begomovirus (clone KN6) shows the highest level of sequence identity (95.9 % to 99 %) to a newly reported virus from India, papaya leaf crumple virus (PaLCrV). Sequence analysis shows that KN4 and KN6 are recombinants of Pedilanthus leaf curl virus (PedLCV) and croton yellow vein mosaic virus (CrYVMV).

