Characterisation of the Nucleocapsid Protein Gene of Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) in Tamil Nadu and its Phylogenetic Relationships

The nucleocapsid protein (N) gene of Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) associated with bud blight of tomato plants from different locations of Tamil Nadu viz., Coimbatore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Madurai was cloned and sequenced. The N gene comprised of 831 nucleotides and 277 aminoacids. The nucleotide sequence identities of the present isolates of the study ranged from 97.1% to 100%. Coimbatore isolate (MK032858) shared maximum sequence identity of 100% with Dharmapuri (MK032860) and Coimbatore isolates (AY618561) of tomato. Krishnagiri isolate (MK032859) shared maximum nucleotide sequence identity of 100% with Andhra Pradesh tomato isolate (AY510133). The aminoacid sequence identities of our isolate ranged from 97.8% to 100%. Krishnagiri isolate (MK032859) shared maximum aminoacid sequence identity of 100% with Andhra Pradesh isolate (AY510133). On this basis, it is concluded that the GBNV isolates from different crops and different agro-ecological zones have not much variation in nucleotide and aminoacid levels.