Abstract

Virus is the most constraint of rice production in West Africa. Genetic diversity of rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) was assessed in two rice growing areas of Mali. Forty-three (43) infected rice leaf samples were collected from five locations within the Niger Office and Selingue Development Rural Office rice’s growing areas. The infected samples were confirmed by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) using primers pair Prymv1 and Prymv2. A total of twenty-six RYMV isolates were obtained and classified into two genotypes A and B with Prymv1 and one genotype with Prymv2. Sequencing of the cDNA fragments with Prymv2 shared isolates into three distinct groups I, II and III. Most of the isolates were under Group I whereas isolates from the Selingue Development Rural Office area and Moussa-Were (Niger Office) area constituted respectively Groups II and III. This study provided baseline data for monitoring the genetic diversity of rice yellow mottle virus in the two rice-growing areas of Mali which could contribute to strategies development for the disease control.

Key words: Genetic diversity, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV), sequencing, Mali.