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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #174719

Title: FIRST REPORT OF STRAWBERRY LATENT RINGSPOT VIRUS IN STRAWBERRY IN THE USA AND CANADA

Author
item Martin, Robert
item TZANETAKIS, I - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item BARNES, J - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item ELMHIRST, J - ELMHIRST DIAGNOSTICS, BC

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/2/2004
Publication Date: 5/1/2004
Citation: Martin, R.R., Tzanetakis, I.E., Barnes, J.E., Elmhirst, J.F. 2004. First report of strawberry latent ringspot virus in strawberry in the usa and canada. Plant Disease.

Interpretive Summary: In an attempt to identify viruses involved with decline symptoms in strawberry in California and the Pacific Northwest, we designed primers to 12 different viruses that infect strawberry. One of the primer sets we made was specific for Strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRSV), considered to be a European virus. When testing strawberry samples from California and British Columbia, we identified strawberry plants that tested positive for SLRSV by RT-PCR using the primers developed from published sequences. The PCR products were sequenced to confirm they were indeed SLRSV. SLRSV was found in 17% of the samples tested from CA and 4% of the samples tested from B.C. The part of the virus that was sequenced (497 base pairs) had 94% identity at the amino acid level. This is the first report of SLRSV in strawberry in the USA or Canada. It is surprising to find this virus in CA strawberries since the virus is reported to be nematode transmitted and most CA strawberries are planted on fumigated soils. Due to this unexpected finding we are investigating other potential vectors of this virus that may explain its presence in strawberries in fumigated soils. The importance of this virus in the decline symptoms is difficult to determine since most plants that were declining were infected with four or five viruses. Recently, this virus was identified in an ornamental mint sold widely within the USA, and as a result of these two findings this virus will likely be removed from the quarantine list.

Technical Abstract: Strawberries in southern California have shown decline symptoms the last two years. More than 70% of the plants tested in California were infected with the two newly identified criniviruses that infect strawberry, Strawberry pallidosis and Beet pseudo-yellows viruses. Strawberry cultivars are usually symptomless when infected with one virus and thus testing for other strawberry viruses was performed to identify any other viruses that may be involved in the symptomatology. Primers SLRSV F (5' CCTCTCCAACCTGCTAGACT 3') and SLRSV R (5' AAGCGCATGAAGGTGTAACT 3'), that amplify a 497 base pair fragment of RNA 2 of Strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRSV), were developed and utilized for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction detection. SLRSV belongs to the family Sequiviridae and is transmitted by nematodes of the genus Xiphinema. The virus has broad host range and is usually symptomless in strawberries. Strawberry plants from commercial fields in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia were tested. SLRSV was identified in 17 % of the plants tested from California and 4% of the plants tested from British Columbia while all samples from Oregon and Washington tested negative. The fragment amplified (GenBank accession number AY461735) shares 84% nucleotide and 94% amino acid identity with the previously published sequence of the virus from strawberry. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of the virus in the USA and the second in North America. The number of the plants tested positive as well as the geographic distribution of the virus indicate that the virus is widespread in California, while further testing is needed to identify its' distribution in other States.