Next generation sequencing reveals the first presence of Okra enation leaf curl virus and its Betasatellite in diseased Okra plants in Iraq

Okra Enation Leaf Curl Virus (OELCuV) is a monopartite Begomovirus often associated with betasatellites and alphasatellites. OELCuV has been reported in different countries. However, it had not yet been reported from Iraq. Transcriptome sequencing data from Karbala fields grown with viral-infected okra were investigated for viruses and their satellites via de novo assembly of the unmapped reads to the okra genomes. Predicted nucleotides and proteins from these assembled unmapped reads aligned OELCuV and its betasatellite sequences with 97.9% and 96.3% identity, respectively. The Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the species identity as Okra Enation Leaf Curl Virus and Okra enation leaf curl betasatellite by gathering them in separated clades with the identical isolates and strains. This report documents for the first time the earliest OELCuV and its betasatellite infection of okra plants in Iraq.