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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #421936
Research Project: Basic and Applied Approaches for Pest Management in Vegetable Crops

Location: Vegetable Research

Title: Prevalence of aphid transmitted potyviruses in pumpkin and winter squash in Georgia, USA

Author
item ACHARYA, NIRMALA - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item KUMAR, MANISH - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item BAG, SUDEEP - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item RILEY, DAVID - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item DIAZ-PEREZ, JUAN - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item SIMMONS, ALVIN
item COOLONG, TIMOTHY - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item MCAVOY, THEODORE - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Submitted to: Viruses
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/5/2025
Publication Date: 2/8/2025
Citation: Acharya, N., Kumar, M., Bag, S., Riley, D.G., Diaz-Perez, J.C., Simmons, A.M., Coolong, T., Mcavoy, T. 2025. Prevalence of aphid transmitted potyviruses in pumpkin and winter squash in Georgia, USA. Viruses. 17(2):233. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020233.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020233

Interpretive Summary: In addition to direct feeding damage, sucking insect pests like aphids and whiteflies transmit many types of harmful plant viruses in vegetable crops. A study was conducted to assess the incidence of aphid-transmitted viruses in pumpkin and winter squash in the U.S. state of Georgia. Two aphid-transmitted viruses (zucchini yellow mosaic virus and papaya ringspot virus) and three whitefly-transmitted viruses (cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus, cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus, and cucurbit leaf crumple virus) were confirmed in the survey and the data suggest a change between years for which virus was detected the most. The results of this study will provide information to help researchers to develop improved management strategies for virus-transmitting insect pests in fall and winter vegetable crops in the southern U.S.

Technical Abstract: Viruses are a major challenging pathogen in cucurbit production worldwide. Pumpkin and winter squash showed severe virus-like symptoms during the fall of 2022 and 2023 in Georgia, USA. Samples of symptomatic leaves were collected from the field and processed for small RNA (sRNA) libraries for high-throughput sequencing (HTS). HTS analysis revealed the presence of two aphid-transmitted viruses (ATVs), zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) and papaya ringspot virus (PRSV), along with three whitefly-transmitted viruses, cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus, cu-curbit yellow stunting disorder virus, cucurbit leaf crumple virus. The results of our study suggests a significant shift in ATV’s abundance in these two crops between 2022 and 2023. The qPCR data in the fall of 2022 show more PRSV infection than ZYMV in both pumpkin (28.12% and 3.12%, respectively) and winter squash (25% and 7.14%, respectively) , and mixed infection of both vi-ruses were also observed in these two crops. During the field evaluation in 2023, we observed a predominance of ZYMV in pumpkin and winter squash (61.25% and 41.87%, respectively). However, PRSV was not detected in these crops using qPCR in 2023. Phylogenetic study of ZYMV-encoded CP and HC-Pro from Georgia suggests a close relationship with European iso-lates. Conversely, PRSV encoded coat protein and Nia-VPg showed a more diverse evolutionary history. These data further help in the characterization of the potential ATVs infestation in pumpkin and winter squash crops. Overall, this research will provide valuable insights into the dynamics of ZYMV and PRSV in pumpkin and winter squash crops within the southeastern United States.