Molecular characteristics of zucchini yellow mosaic virus (zymv) on cucumber plants and comparison between molecular characteristics of two isolates of virus [ZYMV] that infects cucurbits in Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Zucchini yellow mosaic virus [ZYMV] is the most prevalent virus in cucurbits in Saudi Arabia. Samples of cucumber [Cucumis sativus] and Pumpkin [Cucwbita moschata] that show symptoms of virus infection were collected during 2009 growing season from field-grown cucumber and pumpkin in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Based on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR] analysis using one primer pairs, the virus was identified as strain of ZYMV. The PGR assay revealed that the two Riyadh isolates, ZYMVl [cucumber] and ZYMV2 [Pumpkin] were closely related to ZYMV. Serological and molecular data indicated that the two Saudi ZYMV isolates were biologically variable and presented a low molecular diversity. The Gen bank numbers were 6U808330.1 and 6U058058.1 for ZYMVl and ZYMV2, respectively. The nucleotides sequence of the two isolates ZYMVl and ZYMV2 presented molecular diversity that suggests that they did not share a common origin and they have adapted to their different hosts