Title : Diagnosis of viral diseases of some medicinal plants of côte d'ivoire and characterization of associated begomoviruses
Abstract:
The use of plants for therapeutic purposes provides 80 % of the health coverage of sub-Saharan Africa’s populations. However, these plants are attacked by viruses which pose a real threat to their development. This study aims at contributing to a better knowledge of the health condition of medicinal plants in Côte d'Ivoire. To this end, surveys were carried out on listed sites in Abidjan, Anyama and Yamoussoukro. Samples were collected from medicinal plants with or without virus disease symptoms. The parameters studied were the prevalence and severity of these symptoms. A universal primer pair was used for the detection of Begomoviruses associated with viral diseases. Depending on the sites and the species, several characteristic symptoms of viral infections were observed. The symptoms included chlorosis, mosaics, leaf curling, puckering and interveinal thinning of plants. The prevalence of virus symptoms was 16.92 %, 19.99 % and 20.83 %, in Anyama, Yamoussoukro and Abidjan, respectively. Moreover, no significant difference in the severity index of each symptom was noted between the plant species. Molecular analyses (PCR) made it possible to detect the presence of Begomovirus in four samples of the medicinal plants tested. Two strains of Chayote Yellow Mosaic Virus (ChaYMV), a strain of Cotton Leaf Curl Gezira Virus (CLCuGV) and a strain of Clerodendron Leaf Curl Virus (ClLCuV) were identified as potentially responsible for the virus disease observed. The sequences of these viruses had homology rates of 93.54 % and 93.89 % KT454827; 94.84 % MH794667 and 84.35 % FM210067 respectively for ChaYMV; CLCuGV and ClLCuV, respectively. The detection of these potential host viruses of medicinal plants opens research doors for the sustainable management of these plants of interest.