Tobacco Leaf Curl Puer Virus: a Novel Monopartite Begomovirus Infecting Nicotiana Tabacum in China

Begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae) cause serious diseases in many crops. In this study, we characterized a begomovirus isolated from a tobacco plant with leaf curl in Puer, Yunnan Province, China. Analysis of the viral genome obtained from a symptomatic Nicotiana tabacum plant showed that it belonged to a novel monopartite begomovirus. The genome (2741 nt) shared the highest nucleotide sequence identity (83.43%) with that of tomato yellow leaf curl Vietnam virus (TYLCVV). Based on the current taxonomic criteria of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, this virus, for which the name “tobacco leaf curl Puer virus” is proposed, represents a new species of begomovirus.