First Report of Plum pox virus on Plum in New York State.

Plum pox, also known as Sharka, is one of the more significant viral diseases of stone fruit trees such as plum, peach, and apricot. It was first reported in Europe in the early 1900s and more recently in Chile in 1992, the United States (Pennsylvania) in 1999, Canada (Ontario and Nova Scotia) in 2000, China in 2001, and Argentina in 2004. Plum pox virus (PPV) was recently detected in two plum (Prunus domestica) trees in an orchard in Niagara County, NY, located within 5 miles from a Canadian plum pox eradication zone. Typical symptoms of chlorotic rings and spots were observed on some of the leaves from these trees. No symptoms were reported prior to the survey collection in July 2006. Survey samples were screened for the presence of PPV by ELISA using the Agdia PPV (Agdia, Elkhart, IN) specific kit that recognizes all strains but C of PPV. Approximately 5% of the survey samples were additionally analyzed by a validated immunocapture reverse transcription (IC-RT)-PCR TaqMan assay in a Cepheid SmartCycler (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA). Both replicates of the two New York plum trees produced a positive ELISA reaction in two consecutive tests. The ELISA-positive samples also produced positive results when subjected to the real-time IC-RT-PCR test. The PPV-positive trees were sampled again and an additional 53 samples were collected from trees in the surrounding area. Suspect trees again tested positive, while all the trees in the surrounding area tested negative. The methods used for confirmation included two ELISA tests (Durviz [Valencia, Spain] DAS indirect monoclonal ELISA and Agdia DAS polyclonal ELISA). Confirmatory real-time IC-RT-PCR was performed using universal 3' nontranslated region (NTR) primers (2,3) in a SYBR Green assay format and a coat protein (CP) primers/probe TaqMan assay (3,4). Further, the New York PPV isolate was identified as PPV D group using a subgroup specific conventional IC-RT-PCR (1). A 1.4-kb sequence fragment from the 3' end of the New York PPV was sequenced (GenBank Accession No. DG 883816). Comparison of the sequence with the database confirmed this isolate as subgroup D and exhibited a high degree of identity with other PPV D accessions (PPV D Teycheney [Accession No. X16415]; Penn4 [Accession No. DQ465243] Cnd 123-1 [Accession No. AY9553267]; and Cnd 3 [Accession No. AY953262]). To our knowledge, this is the first report of PPV in New York. References: (1) T. Candresse et al. Phytopathology. 88:198, 1998. (2) L. Levy et al. J. Virol. Methods. 49:295, 1994. (3) V. Mavrodieva and L. Levy. Acta Hortic. 657:141, 2004. (4) T. Wetzel et al. J.Virol. Methods 33:355, 1991.

First Report of Potato mop-top virus on Potato from the United States.

Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) is a tripartite pomovirus vectored by the powdery scab plasmodiophoromycete Spongospora subterranea pv. subterranea (1). PMTV occurs on potato (Solanum tuberosum) in Europe, the Andes, Asia, and Canada. Internal necrotic arc and fleck tuber symptoms ("spraing") may reduce commercial acceptance of some cultivars (3). PMTV symptoms were discovered in 'Shepody' tubers at the Aroostook Research Farm, Presque Isle, ME in May 2002 and subsequently in 'Russet Burbank' tubers in commercial storage from the 2001 Maine crop. Symptomatic tubers exhibited single or multiple concentric necrotic arcs that were partial or complete, but exhibited no distinct external symptoms. The presence of PMTV in eight 'Shepody' tubers was indicated by positive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; Adgen, Ltd., Auchincruive, Ayr, Scotland) and confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). 'Russet Burbank' potatoes were visually diagnosed, and the corresponding halves of 128 symptomatic tubers were forwarded to the University of Maine and APHIS (Beltsville, MD). Of these, ELISA readings in Maine were strongly positive (>3 × background) for 88, ambiguous (1.5-3 × background) for 13, and negative for 27. Subsamples from these three categories were positive by PCR in 17 of 17, 9 of 9, and 12 of 14 cases, respectively. A similar rating, positive or ambiguous, in ELISA testing was identical for all but one case at Beltsville. Confirmation of PMTV required PCR testing, resulting in a characteristic PCR product of 401 bp that was generated from the coat protein coding region on RNA 2 (2) using the primer pair PMTV 1 5'-GCAGCCGTCGAGAATAGATA-3' (RNA nucleotides 316-335) and PMTV 4 5'-GCGAGTTGATGTGCC ACATT-3' (complementary to RNA 2 nucleotides 716-697). An immunocapture RT-PCR using this primer set and the coating antibody from the Adgen ELISA kit was also successful in detecting PMTV. In separate reactions, a second product of 646 bp was generated from the triple gene block on RNA 3 (4) using the primer pair PMTV 5 5'-GGTGAACACGAGGACAAGGT-3' (RNA 3 nucleotides 1417-1436) and PMTV 7 5'-AACAGTCCGGTCTTGTGAAC-3' (complementary to RNA 3 nucleotides 2063-2044). The sequence of these products was 98 to 100% identical to PMTV published sequences. The discovery of this virus will result in adjustments to U.S. and Canadian seed potato certification standards and symptom characterization for common North American cultivars. References: (1) R. A. C. Jones and B. D. Harrison. Ann. Appl. Biol 63:1, 1969. (2) S. Kashiwazak et al. Virology 206:701, 1995. (3) M. Sandgren et al. Am. J. Potato Res. 79:205, 2002. (4) K. P. Scott et al. J. Gen. Virol.75:3561, 1994.

Subgroup Determination of Bulgarian Isolates of Cucumber Mosaic Virus and the Presence of Satellite RNAs.

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) is one of the most important viruses in Bulgaria, causing severe losses to agriculture, but little is known about the occurrence and distribution of subgroups within the country or the presence of satellite RNAs (satRNAs). Samples showing typical symptoms (mild to severe mosaic, vein clearing, vein necrosis, leaf deformation, stunting, and fruit necrosis) on several important crops (tomato, cucumber, pepper, bean, courgette, and tobacco) were collected from the main agricultural regions of the country. Isolates were maintained by sap inoculation in tobacco plants. Total RNAs were isolated from 38 samples (including two from bean) and used in reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay with primers corresponding to the coat protein (CP) gene of RNA3 (3). A single strong band, 870 bp in length, was produced from all these samples. Amplified products were analyzed for subgroup differentiation by digestion with the restriction endonucleases MspI (3), PvuII, and EcoRI. The MspI subgroups 2 and 1 designated by Rizos et al. (3) according to their restriction endonuclease digest data correspond to the subgroups I and II widely used in the literature and based on serology, sequence data, and other properties. In this report, the subgroups are referred to as I and II for the sake of clarity. Isolates in both subgroups were found in all the main regions of Bulgaria. A few variations in MspI and EcoRI digestion patterns were seen, indicating some variability between isolates within subgroups. Only five samples, three from tomato and two from pepper, were found to be subgroup II. Subgroup I isolates were found in all the crops sampled. The PCR product from one representative isolate of each subgroup was cloned and sequenced by standard procedures. Alignment of the nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences with published sequences of the CMV CP gene confirmed that the amplified products were derived from CMV. A further eight samples from bean gave only weak amplification and digestion of the products suggested they were likely to be subgroup II. However, these samples were unusual in not inducing symptoms in inoculated tobacco and in being difficult to propagate. The nature of these virus isolates is therefore unclear. Only a single occurrence in Bulgaria of satRNA of CMV has been reported (4) but in this study satRNAs were detected by RT-PCR (1) in total plant RNA extracts of 21 of the 38 samples tested. Amplified products of two of them, NB and 146D, were sequenced; comparison with published sequences confirmed that they were derived from CMV satellite. As expected from the symptoms induced by these isolates, a sequence homologous to the domain of satRNA Y responsible for bright yellow mosaic on tobacco (2) was identified in satRNA NB but not in satRNA 146D. satRNAs were not detected in the eight bean samples that had given only weak amplification with the CMV CP gene primers. The results presented here clearly demonstrate the presence of both subgroups of CMV in Bulgaria. Although CMV in Bulgaria has been studied previously by serological methods, no evidence had been found for the presence of subgroup II. References: (1) F. Grieco et al. Virology 229:166, 1997. (2) C. Masuta and Y. Takanami. Plant Cell 1:1165, 1989. (3) H. Rizos et al. J. Gen. Virol. 73:2099, 1992. (4) E. Stoimenova. J. Cult. Collect. 1:45, 1995.

The 3'-untranslated region of brome mosaic virus RNA does not enhance translation of capped mRNAs in vitro.

The translation enhancing ability of cis-acting 3'-terminal untranslated region (3'-UTR) of brome mosaic virus (BMV) was examined. Two chimeric mRNA constructs translated in rabbit reticulocyte lysates contained the BMV coat protein (CP) gene and NPTI gene, respectively. It was shown that the 3'-UTR of BMV RNA enhanced the translational efficiency of uncapped but not capped messages.