Functional analysis of βC1 protein encoded by Tomato leaf curl Java virus, a monopartite begomovirus

Tomato leaf curl disease is among the most important limiting factors that affect tomato production in world wide including south East Asia. Recently, we have isolated tomato leaf curl Java virus, a whitefly-transmitted monopartite begomovirus, which belongs to the family Geminiviridae. ToLCJAV have been shown to be associated with a novel signal stranded DNA satellite, known as [beta]DNA. Post transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants is a natural defense response against virus infections, and as a counter defense strategy, viruses have evolved to encode silencing suppressor proteins. The present work we have identified the suppressor activities encoded by [beta]C1 protein encoded by ToLCJAV DNA[beta] satellite, which poses a serious threat to Indonesia