Characterization of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus and associated alphasatellite infecting Cucurbita maxima in Japan

Samples of Cucurbita maxima plants with foliar yellowing and curling symptoms were collected in Komae City (Japan) in 2011 and shown by Southern blot hybridization to be associated with a begomovirus. Rolling circle amplification and PCR-mediated amplification with specific primers showed the presence of a begomovirus and an alphasatellite, but neither a DNA-B component or a betasatellite. Sequence analysis of full-length clones showed the virus to be an isolate of the Israel strain of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus and the alphasatellite Sida yellow vein China alphasatellite. This is the first identification of these components in a cucurbit in Japan.