Identification of sida micrantha mosaic virus as the causal agent of common mosaic in cotton in Goiás

ABSTRACT Detection and molecular identification of viruses are fundamental to define control strategies against viral diseases, particularly for whitefly-transmitted viruses. Cotton (Gossypium) plants showing leaf mosaic symptoms and yield reduction were observed in commercial cultivars (G. hirsutum) and in plants of the cotton germplasm collection of Embrapa maintained in the field (G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, G. mustelinum). DNA was extracted from cotton plants with symptoms of mosaic and interveinal chlorosis, and a begomovirus-specific genome was amplified with degenerated universal primers, which indicated their association with a begomovirus. This virus was identified as an isolate of sida micrantha mosaic virus (SiMMV) after the amplicon sequencing. The virus could not be transmitted by whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci MEAM1) to cotton plants when the latter were used as inoculum source under protected cultivation house, suggesting a complex interaction among viruses, plants and vectors.