Biological and Genomic Properties of a Geminivirus Isolated from Pepper

Abstract

A geminivirus causing leaf curl and distorsion symptoms was isolated from pepper (Capsicum annuum) cultivated in Texas. The Texas pepper geminivirus (TPGV) was transmitted mechanically to species of the solanaceae. Electron microscopy of purified virions revealed typical geminate particles. Extracts from infected plants, but not uninfected plants, contained a putative replicative form (RF) DNA species of 2.6 kb that was double stranded, circular, and supercoiled. Viral RF DNA, linearized by digestion with the restriction enzymes EcoRI or HindIII, was cloned into Escherichia coli plasmid pUC8 (...)