First Report of Pepper veinal mottle virus in Tomato and Pepper in Taiwan

Abstract

In May of 2006, samples from tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Known-you 301) exhibiting necrotic symptoms on stems, petioles, and leaves were collected from Chiayi County, Taiwan. Double-antibody sandwich-ELISAs were performed using Cucumber mosaic virus, Tomato mosaic virus, Potato virus Y, Watermelon silver mottle virus, and Chilli veinal mottle virus (ChiVMV) polyclonal antibodies. Three of eight samples reacted with antibodies against ChiVMV but not with the others. Using the potyvirus degenerate primers (Hrp 5/Pot 1) (2), an expected 1.5-kb DNA fragment including the 3′-end of the NIb gene, the complete coat protein (CP) gene, and the 3′-nontranslatable region of the virus was amplified from total RNA isolated from these three samples by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. A homology search in GenBank indicated that the new tomato-infecting virus in Taiwan belongs to Pepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV) since they shared >90% amino acid identity in the CP gene. A virus culture (Tom1) isolated from one of the diseased tomatoes was then established in Chenopodium quinoa and Nicotiana benthamiana and the CP gene was amplified and sequenced (GenBank Accession No. EU719647). Comparisons of the 807-nt CP gene with those of five PVMV isolates available in GenBank showed 81.5 to 93.1% nucleotide and 90.0 to 97.8% amino acid identity. Tom1 induced irregular necrotic lesions on stems, petioles, and leaves of tomato while inducing only mild mottle symptoms on pepper. Serological cross reaction between ChiVMV and PVMV has been observed previously (1,3) and also found in this study. To differentiate these two potyviruses by RT-PCR, primer pair CPVMVup/dw (5′-TATTC(T/C)TCAGTGTGG(A/T/C)T(T/C)CCACCAT and 5′-(T/C)C(A/T)C(A/T)(A/T/G)(A/T)AA(A/G)CCATAA(A/C)(A/C)ATA(A/G)T(T/C)T) was designed on the basis of the comparison of the CP gene and the 3′-nontranslatable region of the PVMV and ChiVMV. DNA fragments of 171 and 259 bp are expected to be amplified from ChiVMV and PVMV, respectively, by RT-PCR with primers CPVMVup/dw. In a field survey done in 2006, samples from diseased peppers (Capsicum annuum) that reacted with the polyclonal antibodies against ChiVMV were further identified by RT-PCR with primers CPVMVup/dw, indicating that both ChiVMV and PVMV infected pepper crops (Capsicum spp.) in Taiwan. A pepper isolate (Pep1) of PVMV was obtained from Nantou County through three times of single lesion passages on C. quinoa and then propagated on N. benthamiana. The CP gene of Pep1 was amplified and sequenced (GenBank Accession No. EU719646) and found to share 99.1% nucleotide and 100% amino acid identity with that of Tom1. Pep1 caused mild mottle symptoms on leaves of both tomato and pepper. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of PVMV in Taiwan as well as in East Asia. References: (1) B. Moury et al. Phytopathology 95:227, 2005. (2) S. S. Pappu et al. Plant Dis. 82:1121, 1998. (3) W. S. Tsai et al. Plant Pathol. 58:408, 2008.

Development of Attenuated Viruses for Effective Protection against Pepper Veinal Mottle Virus in Tomato Crops

“…Tomato cultivation in Taiwan suffers from numerous insect-borne viruses, including potato virus Y (PVY) [3], chilli veinal mottle virus (ChiVMV) [4], pepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV) [5], pepper mottle virus (PepMoV) [6], and tobacco vein banding mosaic virus (TVBMV) [7] of the aphid-transmitted genus Potyvirus in the family Potyviridae. Viruses belonging to the genus Potyvirus have a monopartite, single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome of about 10 kb, encapsidated by multiple units of a single type of coat protein (CP) in flexuous and filamentous particles of 720-850 nm long and 12-15 nm in diameter.…”

“…PVMV was first found in Taiwan in 2006 [5] and has become the most prevalent potyvirus infecting tomato and pepper crops in Taiwan [32]. Previous reports have shown that nitrite treatment is suitable for the attenuation of potyviruses [25,33].…”

A developed multiplex RT-PCR assay for simultaneous detection of four main viruses on pepper (Capsicum spp.)

“…Therefore, in recent years ChiVMV, PVMV, CMV and PMMoV were speculated to become the dominant viruses damaging pepper plants in South China . It's worth noting that ChiVMV and PVMV both belonging to genus Potyvirus in the family Potyviridae were reported on pepper for the rst time in China no more than tweenty years ago (Wang et al 2006;Cheng et al, 2009). Since then, they have spread rapidly in many other pepper growing areas, such as Hunan (Zhang et al, 2016), Yunan (Rao et al, 2020), etc.…”

Complete genome analysis of a novel recombinant isolate of pepper veinal mottle virus from mainland China

“…This virus is well documented of infected pepper crops in several countries in Africa [ 10 , 11 ], and the phylogenetic relationship among different isolates with CP gene level has been extensively studied [ 9 ]. In Asia, this virus was reported infecting pepper crops in India and Taiwan [ 12 ]. However, as our best knowledge, there is no complete genome RNA sequence of PVMV infecting pepper crops in mainland China so far.…”