Okra leaf curl disease (OLCD) is commonly observed in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) crops in several African countries. Affected plants are severely stunted with apical leaf curl (upward or downward), distortion and thickening of the veins. In Africa, OLCD is associated with a complex of several strains of two begomovirus species: Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus (CLCuGV) and Okra yellow crinkle virus (OYCrV), severe symptoms of leaf curling, deformation, and vein thickening, resembling those of okra leaf curl disease were observed on okra in four localities in south-eastern Côte d'Ivoire. Fourteen leaf samples with symptoms were collected and tested for the presence of begomoviruses using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with a set of degenerate primers designed to amplify the coat protein gene of
Old World begomoviruses. PCR products of the expected sizes were obtained for nine samples suggesting the presence of Old World monopartite begomoviruses in all four localities. PCR positive samples were further processed and full-length viral genomes were amplified from four samples by rolling-circle amplification, cloned using the BamHI restriction enzyme and sequenced. One complete genome sequence showed the highest pairwise sequence identity of 99% (100% coverage) with isolates of the Niger strain of CLCuGeV from Niger and Burkina Faso. The other three sequences showed the highest pairwise sequence identity of 98-99% (100% coverage) with isolates of the Mali strain of OYCrV from Mali . A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree, produced from alignments of publicly available begomovirus sequences, confirmed the genetic relationship of Ivorian CLCuGeV and OYCrV isolates with isolates from three neighbouring countries, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. To our knowledge, this is the first report of CLCuGeV and OYCrV implicated in OLCD in Côte d’Ivoire. Our results confirm that OLCD is associated with a complex of several strains of CLCuGeV and OYCrV in sub-Saharan Africa.