The emergence of begomoviruses has led to signifi cant losses in vegetable production in the recent years. Squash leaf curl disease (SqLCD) is caused by begomoviruses, and the infected plants show leaf curl symptoms on zucchini squash.In this study, we characterized the begomoviruses responsible for SqLCD symptoms and economic losses in zucchini major growing area near Baghdad and Babylon provinces.PCR amplifi cation was performed to screen for begomovirus infection using Deng (a begomovirus specifi c) primer set. Sequence comparison confi rmed the detection of two begomoviruses; Tomato leaf curl Palampur virus (ToLCPMV) and Squash leaf curl virus (SLCuV), in symptomatic zucchini samples when shared 99.14 and 99.50% maximum nucleotide (nt) identities with coat protein CP gene, respectively. All samples collected from Baghdad/Al-Jadriya were ToLCPMV infected while those collected from Babylon/ Jibela were SLCuV infected. Moreover, mixed infection of the two viruses was detected in all zucchini squash samples collected from Baghdad/Yusufi yah. Evidence is provided here of the relevance of the wild species Malva neglecta and Datura stramonium as reservoir of begomoviruses that cause epedemics of leaf curl disease in zucchini squash in Iraq. Neighbor joining (NJ) Phylogenetic analysis confi rmed the relatedness when diverged virus sequences in separated groups based on CP gene. The high nt identity suggests the two begomoviruses may recently be introduced to Iraq and could be a serious threatening to squash cultivation.

The study was aimed at the characterization of a leaf curl disease on zucchini squash based on molecular approaches. Leaf samples were collected from symptomatic plants in zucchini squash growing area at Baghdad. Total DNA was extracted from collected samples using commercial DNA extraction kit.ٍ PCR amplification was performed to screened extracted samples for begomovirus infection using Deng a begomovirus specific primer set. DNA fragment of expected size were sequenced and compared to equivalent Gen Bank sequences. Sequence analyses were performed using MEGA X and SDTv1.2 software packages. Sequence comparison confirmed the detection of Squash leaf curl virus (SLCuV), in symptomatic zucchini samples when shared 98-99 and 95-96% maximum nucleotide (nt) identities with coat protein CP gene (DNAA) and DNAB, respectively, from the Gen Bank. Neighbor joining (NJ) Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the relatedness when grouped virus sequences with the equivalent Gen Bank sequences based on partial sequences of CP gene and DNAB. SDT analysis confirmed species demarcation of Iraqi sequences at 99 and 97% identity with the SLCuV partial DNAA and DNAB sequencesm respectively from the Gen Bank. The high ( nt) identity suggests SLCuV may recently be introduced to Iraq and could be a serious threatening to squash cultivation