Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus DNA Forms in the Viral Capside, in Infected Plants and in the Insect Vector

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) DNA was used as a probe to identify and analyze virus-related DNAs in the viral capside, in infected tomato plants and in the virus vector, the whitefly. In addition to the single-stranded viral genomic DNA, double-stranded virus-related DNA molecules were detected in infected plants. Not all of the virus-related DNA forms are present simultaneously in the infected plant. The double-stranded molecules, which are probably the replicative form of the viral genome, have been purified from an infected tomato plant. In the viruliferous whitefly, only the single-stranded unit-size viral genome was detected.