Peanut Chlorotic Streak Virus, a New Caulimovirus Infecting Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) in India

Abstract

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea (groundnut)) plants with reduced leaflets, chlorotic streaks, and stunting were observed during surveys for diseases caused by peanut viruses in India. These peanut plants were infected with a new caulimovirus designated peanut chlorotic streak virus (PClSV). PClSV was mechanically transmissible to several plants in Leguminosae and Solanaceae but was not transmitted by Aphis craccivora or Myzus persicae. Purified from Nicotiana clevelandii leaves, PClSV contained isometric particles 52 ± 3 nm in diameter. The virus was not related to cauliflower mosaic, figwort mosaic, or soybean chlorotic mottle viruses. Inclusion bodies similar to those produced by caulimoviruses were observed in the cytoplasm of infected Nicotiana rustica and A. hypogaea leaves. Purified PClSV contained two polypeptides with relative molecular masses of 58 and 51 kDa. The size of double-stranded DNA was estimated as approximately 8.1 kbp, which contained two single-stranded discontinuities. The physical map of the PClSV genome was distinctly different from those of other caulimoviruses