Characterization of Beet curly top Iran virus infecting eggplant and pepper in north-eastern Iran

Beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIV) ( Becurtovirus , Geminiviridae ) is a destructive virus in crop growing farms in Iran. In this study, BCTIV infected eggplant and chili and bell pepper plants showing typical geminivirus symptoms were collected in north-eastern Iran and investigated. PCR and sequence of the resulting amplicons showed that the samples are infected with the BCTIV. A bell pepper isolate was chosen and BCTIV full-length genome was amplified using rolling circle amplification (RCA) method. An infectious clone containing a partial dimer of the BCTIV genome was constructed and used for agroinoculation tests. Results indicated that inoculated eggplant and bell pepper seedlings with BCTIV infectious construct are efficiently infected and resulted in 60 and 47% infection. Based on the results of this study, eggplant and chili and bell peppers are the BCTIV hosts in north-eastern Iran and therefore, eggplant is reported as new natural host of BCTIV. This finding confirms broad host range of the virus.