First report of chayote yellow mosaic virus in Côte d’Ivoire: a divergent strain infecting bitter melon

Abstract

In this report, we present the first description of nine complete genome sequences of a new strain of chayote yellow mosaic virus (ChaYMV, genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae), provisionally named Côte d’Ivoire (ChaYMV-CI), isolated from bitter melon (Momordica charantia) leaf samples showing yellow mosaic symptoms collected in the region of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire in 2013 and 2019. The nucleotide sequences of ChaYMV-CI DNA-A-like genome share the highest nucleotide sequence identities (91.8–92.5%) with those of ChaYMV isolates from Benin and Cameroon. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the segregation of ChaYMV isolates into two distinct clades and their affiliation to Old World monopartite begomoviruses. The discovery of a new strain of ChaYMV in West Africa, at the limit of the taxonomic demarcation threshold for begomoviruses (91%), call for further investigations into the molecular diversity, geographical distribution and host range of ChaYMV in Western Africa.