BIOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF BEGOMOVIRUS MILD STRAINS AND THEIR ELUCIDATION FOR CROSS PROTECTION AGAINST EGGPLANT BEGOMOVIRUS (SOLANUM MELONGENA L.)

Abstract

One alternative form of controlling disease caused by Begomovirus infection which infects eggplant plants (Solanum melongena L) is by utilizing the principle of cross protection. This study aims to obtain mild strains of Begomovirus from natural populations in Solanacea plants, identify molecular characteristics of Begomoviruses that infect eggplant based on AV1, AC1, and AC2 gene sequences, determine the pathogenicity of mild strains of Begomovirus in several Solanacea plants, and determine the effectiveness of mild strains of Begomovirus against super infection of the severe strain Begomovirus. Identification of Begomovirus used the universal primer Krusty/Homer which amplified the AV1 gene sequence at ±550 bp and the degenerate primer SPG1/SPG2 which amplified the AC1 and AC2 gene sequences at ±912 bp. The results obtained from this study showed that eggplant from a natural population from Pesawaran was a mild strain of Begomovirus. Phylogenetic analysis and genetic variation of Begomovirus showed that Begomovirus from South Lampung was identified as tomato leaf curl kanchanaburi virus (TYLCKaV). Inoculation of mild strains and severe strains of Begomovirus on eggplant and red pepper plants showed symptoms of yellow spots on leaves and leaf curl. The mild strain of Begomovirus from Pesawaran was able to suppress superinfection of the severe Begomovirus strain.