Recombination among 3 begomoviruses in the same Sida plant

What is it about?

Begomoviruses infect a variety of plants including tomatoes, cassava & beans. They also infect weeds, such as Sida spp. Recombination, a process that allows different viruses to switch parts with each other, may be responsible for creating new viruses. We suspect that the process of recombination may allow weed-infecting begomoviruses to infect crops. This paper describes the identification of three begomoviruses in one Sida plant. Data analysis revealed that these viruses were, in fact, recombinant.

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Why is it important?

The discovery of recombinant begomoviruses in Sida spp. supports the idea that weeds may be involved in the evolution of these viruses. It's therefore important to not ignore weeds in attempts to control the economic toll these viruses have on agricultural holdings worldwide.

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