Incidence of cotton leaf curl Gezira virus and the associated alphasatellites and betasatellites in crops and ornamental plants in southern Iran

Begomoviruses are responsible for many destructive diseases in a number of crops and vegetables in central and southern Iran. In this study, viruses belonging to the species Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus and alphasatellites and betasatellites associated with them were identified infecting sunflower, marshmallow, and okra in the Kerman and Khuzestan provinces (southeastern and southern Iran, respectively). Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus (CLCuGeV) genomes identified in three hosts shared 96.7–99% pairwise identities. Two alphasatellite molecules belonging to the species Cotton leaf curl Gezira alphasatellite (recovered from okra) and Gossypium darwinii symptomless alphasatellite (recovered from sunflower and marshmallow) as well as two betasatellite molecules belonging to the species Tomato leaf curl betasatellite (recovered from marshmallow) and Okra leaf curl Oman betasatellite (recovered from Okra) shared