First Detection and Characterization of Chrysanthemum virus B infecting Chrysanthemum in Thailand

Abstract

Chrysanthemum is one of the important ornamental plants in worldwide due to its high economic and cultural values. Chrysanthemum leaves showed mosaic, ringspot, yellowing and mild mottle symptoms were observed and collected from cultivation areas in northern Thailand and used for detection of important viruses infecting chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum virus B (CVB) was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from samples showing yellowing and mild mottle symptoms. Sequences of the coat protein (CP) gene of two CVB isolates found in this study were sequenced and shared 93.15% homology with other CVB isolates from different countries deposited in GenBank. Biological indexing of these CVB found that they induced both local and systemic symptoms in tobacco plants while petunia displayed a systemic symptom. The particles of CVB were observed under transmission electron microscope (TEM), prepared by dip preparation and negative staining methods, showing slightly flexuous rod-shaped virions approximately 600–650 nm in length. To our knowledge, this is the first detection and study on molecular and biological characteristics of CVB infecting chrysanthemum in Thailand.