Effect of Cucumber mosaic virus on the Content of Some Melon Genotypes of Some Mineral Elements and Plant Hormones

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection on the levels of some mineral elements and plant hormones in some melon genotypes. All experiments mentioned in this research were conducted in the Laboratory of plant virology and Greenhouses belonging to the Plant Protection Department/ College of the Agriculture/ University of Kerbala. PCR amplification using the complementary DNA (cDNA), synthesized from RNA isolated from an infected plant, produced a 650bp PCR product. A BLAST search using the nucleotide sequence of the PCR product demonstrated that this CMV isolate was previously registered at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) with a similarity of 100% with some CMV isolates identified in Hungary (AJ517802), Australia (U22821), and Slovenia (OL142046). It was also found that all melon genotypes evaluated in this study were susceptible to CMV, and the genotypes HA-144 and HA-609 were the most susceptible to CMV among the other tested genotypes. Results also showed that the CMV infection significantly reduced the levels of some minerals (calcium, magnesium, and manganese), and the genotypes HA-144, GM-3034, and GA-1534 were the most affected by the virus.; whereas the mineral elements sodium and potassium were significantly increased in their levels in infected plants, especially in the genotype HA-609. The CMV infection also clearly reduced the level of the hormone gibberellin in genotypes and the GA-1534 genotype was the most impacted and significantly different from their levels in the uninfected plants. However, the CMVinfected genotypes showed a significant increase in the level of the hormones cytokinin.