Characterization of Citrus tristeza virus Single-Variant Sources in Grapefruit in Greenhouse and Field Trials

Abstract

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is endemic to southern Africa and the stem pitting syndrome that it causes was a limiting factor in grapefruit production prior to the introduction of cross-protection in the Citrus Improvement Scheme. This disease mitigation strategy, using various field-derived CTV sources, has significantly extended the productive lifespan of grapefruit orchards in South Africa. CTV commonly occurs as a population of various strains, masking the phenotypic effect of individual strains. Likewise, current South African CTV cross-protection sources are strain mixtures, obscuring an understanding of which strains are influencing cross-protection. The severity of various CTV strains has mostly been assessed on sensitive indicator hosts, but their effect on commercial varieties has seldom been investigated. Single-variant CTV isolates were used to investigate the phenotypic expression of CTV strains in commercial grapefruit varieties as well as CTV indicator hosts. They were biologically characterized for their ability to cause stem pitting and their rate of translocation and titer in the different hosts, monitored by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Complete genome sequences for three CTV strain variants were generated. Isolates of CTV strains VT, T68, RB, and HA16-5 did not induce severe stem pitting in four grapefruit hosts in a glasshouse trial. Viral titers of the strains differed in the grapefruit hosts, but the RB isolate reached a higher titer in the grapefruit hosts compared with the VT, T68, and HA16-5 isolates. Additionally, horticultural assessment of two grapefruit varieties inoculated with the RB isolate in two field trials demonstrated that mild stem pitting did not negatively influence the horticultural performance of the grapefruit trees over an eight-year assessment period. ‘Star Ruby’ trees containing the CTV source GFMS35 showed less stem pitting than trees inoculated with the RB isolate, but had smaller canopy volumes and lower yields than trees containing the RB isolate. This suggests that the influence of CTV sources on tree performance is not limited to the effect of stem pitting.