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A novel bipartite begomovirus infecting Cnidoscolus urens (Euphorbiaceae) from Pernambuco State, Brazil, has been characterized. The complete DNA-A (2657 nt) and DNA-B (2622 nt) components of the viral isolates show the typical genome organization of New World bipartite begomoviruses. DNA-A of the isolates had the highest percentage of nucleotide sequence identity (88.6-88.9%) to cnidoscolus mosaic leaf deformation virus. Based on the current classification criteria for the genus Begomovirus, the virus infecting C. urens should be considered a new member of the genus, and the name "cnidoscolus mild mosaic virus" is proposed for the virus, and the name "Begomovirus caboniensis" is proposed for its species., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Begomoviruses have been detected infecting the weed Cnidoscolus urens (family Euphorbiaceae) since 2004, but the viral species to which these viruses belonged was not known. Here, we report for the first time the complete genome sequence of a bipartite begomovirus obtained from C. urens collected in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. This isolate met the criteria to be classified as a member of a new begomovirus species, and the tentative name cnidoscolus mosaic leaf deformation virus (CnMLDV) is proposed. Pairwise sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis showed that the DNA-A genomic component of CnMLDV is most closely related to that of passionfruit severe leaf distortion virus, with 86.3 % nucleotide sequence identity.