First Report of Chilli leaf curl India virus Infecting Mentha spicata (Neera) in India
Authors: Saeed S. T. , Khan A. , Kumar B. , Ajayakumar P. V. , Samad A. 
Published: August 2013

Mint (Mentha spp.; family Lamiaceae) is an important essential oil-bearing crop cultivated on the Indian subcontinent as a cash crop for the international market and industrial purposes. Since May 2010, typical symptoms such as yellow vein, leaf yellowing, mosaic, crinkling, and cupping were observed, which led to significant yield loss in spearmint (M. spicata var. Neera) at CIMAP experimental fields and farmers' fields of Badaun, Rampur, and Moradabad regions of Uttar Pradesh province, India. Disease incidence was recorded in the range of 40 to 50%. Mentha spp. has been reported to be affected by many viral diseases (3). Due to the absence of fungal/bacterial infection, lack of mechanical transmission of the pathogen, and presence of whiteflies in the fields, the causal pathogen was suspected to be a begomovirus. Total genomic DNA was extracted from the leaves of naturally infected and healthy samples of Mentha by the CTAB protocol. Eighteen symptomatic samples were collected from different location of fields and screened for the presence of begomovirus. DNA from these samples was used as PCR template to amplify a 771-bp fragment using begomovirus coat protein (CP) gene specific primers. Eleven of 18 (61.1%) samples were found positive. PCR products were cloned into the pGEM-T Easy (Promega) and sequenced using the universal M13F/M13R primers showed sequence similarity with Chilli leaf curl India virus. To amplify the full-length DNA-A/B and a possible β-satellite, a second detection method was used: rolling circle amplification (RCA) using the TempliPhi 100 Amplification System (GE Healthcare). RCA products were digested independently with various restriction enzymes: BamHI, EcoRI, EcoRV, HincII, HindIII, SacI, and KpnI. Digested products were resolved on 1% agarose gel and the bands corresponding to ~2.7 and ~1.3 kb were purified using Nucleospin Gel and PCR Clean-up Kit and cloned into the respective sites of pGreen0029 vector. The sequence of full-length DNA-A (2,749 bp) and β-satellite component (1,347-bp) were obtained and deposited in NCBI GenBank with accession nos. KF312364 and KF364485, respectively. The sequence analysis showed maximum nucleotide identity (99%) with Chilli leaf curl India virus (FM877858) and distant affinities (≤88%) with other begomoviruses. The sequence analysis of isolated β-satellite showed 93% identity with Ageratum yellow vein virus satellite (AJ252072.1). No presence of DNA-B was detected using the universal primer PBL1v2040/PCRc1 (2), thus confirming it to be a monopartite begomovirus (1). Viruliferous whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) proved Koch's postulation by inducing similar symptoms on healthy plants while aphids (Myzus persicae) failed to transmit the virus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Chilli leaf curl India virus infecting M. spicata var. Neera in India. Mint is widely grown together with other reported hosts of begomoviruses, and thus could pose a serious threat as future expansion of begomovirus to new crops. Hence, the development of resistant varieties coupled with the implementation of adapted integrated pest management strategies would be essential for successful production of mint crops.

References: (1) Y. Kumar et al. Plant Pathol. 60:1040, 2011. (2) M. R. Rojas et al. Plant Dis. 77:340, 1993. (3) I. E. Tzanetakis et al. Plant Dis. 94:4, 2010.