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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Subtropical Plant Pathology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #176237

Title: BIDENS MOTTLE VIRUS IDENTIFIED IN TROPICAL SODA APPLE IN FLORIDA

Author
item BAKER, CARLYE - FDACS-DPI
item KAMENOVA, IVANKA - USDA, ARS (FORMER)
item Adkins, Scott

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/24/2007
Publication Date: 7/1/2007
Citation: Baker, C.A., Kamenova, I., Adkins, S.T. 2007. Bidens mottle virus identified in tropical soda apple in florida. Plant Disease. 91:905.

Interpretive Summary: This is the first report of Bidens mottle virus (BiMoV) infecting tropical soda apple in Florida. A description of the symptoms and diagnostic methods used to confirm the identity of BiMoV are included. This report continues a cooperative virology research effort between ARS and FDACS-DPI. It also provides a timely account of BiMoV infection of tropical soda apple to growers, Extension personnel and state and Federal regulatory and research scientists.

Technical Abstract: Tropical soda apple (TSA) (Solanum viarum Dunal), a plant native to South America, was first identified in Florida in 1988. It rapidly became a noxious weed in pastures throughout the state. In addition to being a pest in its own right, the plant is also known to be a reservoir for several viruses that infect important vegetable crops in Florida. These viruses include Cucumber mosaic virus, Potato leafroll virus, Potato virus Y (PVY), Tobacco etch virus (TEV), Tomato mosaic virus and Tomato mottle virus. In a routine survey of Florida weeds, a TSA plant with chlorotic young leaves was found to be infected with a potyvirus using a commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kit. This potyvirus did not induce symptoms typical of either PVY or TEV in a host range study in that it infected Chenopodium quinoa systemically inducing irregular chlorotic lesions. Zinnia elegans was inoculated with symptomatic C. quinoa tissue resulting in mosaic symptoms. Cylindrical inclusions consistent with those of Bidens mottle virus (BiMoV) were found in leaf strips of zinnia leaves. Immunodiffusion tests using antiserum to BiMoV gave a reaction of identity with symptomatic zinnia, a known sample of BiMoV originally isolated from Bidens pilosa and a recent isolate of BiMoV from lettuce. Although BiMoV is not considered to be an economic pest in Florida agriculture, its recent identification in lettuce fields and a seedling greenhouse in Belle Glade, FL may indicate an increasing incidence and importance of this virus. It is recommended that TSA plants growing in and around lettuce production areas should be removed along with other weed hosts of this virus.