Presence and distribution of oilseed pumpkin viruses and molecular detection of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus

Abstract

Over the past decade, intensive spread of virus infections of oilseed pumpkin has resulted in significant economic losses in pumpkin crop production, which is currently expanding in our country. In 2007 and 2008, a survey for the presence and distribution of oilseed pumpkin viruses was carried out in order to identify viruses responsible for epidemics and incidences of very destructive symptoms on cucurbit leaves and fruits. Monitoring and collecting samples of oil pumpkin, as well as other species such as winter and butternut squash and buffalo and bottle gourd with viral infection symptoms, was conducted in several localities of Vojvodina Province. The collected plant samples were tested by DAS-ELISA using polyclonal antisera specific for the detection of six most economically harmful pumpkin viruses: Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), Watermelon mosaic virus (WMW), Squash mosaic virus (SqMV), Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) and Tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV) that are included in A1 quarantine list of harmful organisms in Serbia. Identification of viruses in the collected samples indicated the presence of three viruses, ZYMV, WMV and CMV, in individual and mixed infections. Frequency of the identified viruses varied depending on locality and year of investigations. In 2007, WMV was the most frequent virus (94.2%), while ZYMV was prevalent (98.04%) in 2008. High frequency of ZYMV determined in both years of investigation indicated the need for its rapid and reliable molecular detection. During this investigation, a protocol for ZYMV detection was developed and optimized using specific primers CPfwd/Cprev and commercial kits for total RNA extraction, as well as for RT-PCR. In RT-PCR reaction using these primers, a DNA fragment of approximately 1100 bp, which included coat protein gene, was amplified in the samples of infected pumkin leaves. Although serological methods are still useful for large-scale testing of a great number of samples, this protocol, due to its high sensitivity and specificity, is an important improvement in rapid diagnosis of diseases caused by this virus. In addition, the protocol provides a basis for further characterization of ZYMV isolates originating from Serbia.