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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #416021
Research Project: Biological and Biotechnological Approaches for Management of Insect Vectors and Vector-borne Viruses Affecting Vegetable Crops

Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research

Title: First report of Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) infecting lettuce in Mexico

Author
item MEJIA QUEVEDO, ISRAEL - Non ARS Employee
item Hladky, Laura
item TLAPAL BOLANOS, BERTHA - Non ARS Employee
item Hasegawa, Daniel

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/11/2024
Publication Date: 11/1/2024
Citation: Mejia Quevedo, I., Hladky, L.L., Tlapal Bolanos, B., Hasegawa, D.K. 2024. First report of Impatiens necrotic spot virus infecting lettuce in Mexico. Plant Disease. 108(11):3423. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-24-1191-PDN.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-24-1191-PDN

Interpretive Summary: Lettuce is a leafy green vegetable that is grown throughout Central Mexico. In recent years, outbreaks of a disease exhibiting symptoms of virus infection have been in observed throughout the region. Here, we confirmed the presence of a new thrips-transmitted virus in lettuce samples collected from two states in Central Mexico, The virus, Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV), has emerged as a major challenge for lettuce production in other countries, including the United States. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of INSV infecting lettuce in Mexico, and should be monitored closely as an emerging pathogen.

Technical Abstract: In Mexico, lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a leafy green vegetable, with over 22,000 hectares grown in 2023 and majority of production occurring in the central region of the country. Orthotospovirus impatiensnecromaculae, commonly known as Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV; Order Bunyavirales, Family Tospoviridae) is a thrips-borne pathogen that infects a wide range of ornamental and vegetable crops, and in recent years, has been described to infect lettuce in the United States and Greece. Symptoms resembling those caused by INSV infection were observed in lettuce fields in 2023 and 2024 in two central states of Mexico – Mexico and Puebla. Serological and genetic tests were conducted on symptomatic plants to confirm the presence of INSV. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of INSV infecting lettuce in Mexico.