Synonymous site variation due to recombination explains higher genetic variability in begomovirus populations infecting non-cultivated hosts

Begomoviruses are ssDNA plant viruses that cause serious epidemics in economically important crops worldwide. Non-cultivated plants also harbour many begomoviruses, and it is believed that these hosts may act as reservoirs and as mixing vessels where recombination may occur. Begomoviruses are notori...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of general virology 2013-02, Vol.94 (Pt 2), p.418-431
Main Authors: Lima, Alison T M, Sobrinho, Roberto R, González-Aguilera, Jorge, Rocha, Carolina S, Silva, Sarah J C, Xavier, César A D, Silva, Fábio N, Duffy, Siobain, Zerbini, F Murilo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Begomovirus - classification
Begomovirus - genetics
Brazil
Cluster Analysis
DNA, Viral - chemistry
DNA, Viral - genetics
Genetic Variation
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
Plant Diseases - virology
Plants - virology
Recombination, Genetic
Sequence Analysis, DNA
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Summary:Begomoviruses are ssDNA plant viruses that cause serious epidemics in economically important crops worldwide. Non-cultivated plants also harbour many begomoviruses, and it is believed that these hosts may act as reservoirs and as mixing vessels where recombination may occur. Begomoviruses are notoriously recombination-prone, and also display nucleotide substitution rates equivalent to those of RNA viruses. In Brazil, several indigenous begomoviruses have been described infecting tomatoes following the introduction of a novel biotype of the whitefly vector in the mid-1990s. More recently, a number of viruses from non-cultivated hosts have also been described. Previous work has suggested that viruses infecting non-cultivated hosts have a higher degree of genetic variability compared with crop-infecting viruses. We intensively sampled cultivated and non-cultivated plants in similarly sized geographical areas known to harbour either the weed-infecting Macroptilium yellow spot virus (MaYSV) or the crop-infecting Tomato severe rugose virus (ToSRV), and compared the molecular evolution and population genetics of these two distantly related begomoviruses. The results reinforce the assertion that infection of non-cultivated plant species leads to higher levels of standing genetic variability, and indicate that recombination, not adaptive selection, explains the higher begomovirus variability in non-cultivated hosts.
ISSN:0022-1317
1465-2099
DOI:10.1099/vir.0.047241-0