Field Evaluation of Transgenic Squash Containing Single or Multiple Virus Coat Protein Gene Constructs for Resistance to Cucumber Mosaic Virus, Watermelon Mosaic Virus 2 and Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus

`Pavo', a commercially grown, virus-susceptible squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) hybrid, and two experimental virus-resistant transgenic squash hybrids, XPH-1719 and XPH-1739, were tested for field performance. The two transgenic squash hybrids possess the desired fruit and plant characteristics of their parental line, `Pavo', plus resistance to zucchini yellow mosaic virus and watermelon mosaic virus 2 (XPH-1719), and resistance to zucchini yellow mosaic virus, watermelon mosaic virus 2, and cucumber mosaic virus (XPH-1739). Percent emergence and days to flowering were similar among the three hybrids. XPH-1719 and XPH-1739 were equally effective in producing a high percentage of quality marketable fruit and yields with 90% and 13,800 kg·ha–1 and 87% and 16,500 kg·ha–1, respectively. XPH-1719 and XPH-1739 demonstrated their outstanding virus resistance over `Pavo' by producing only 3% and 14% symptomatic plants, respectively, compared to 53% for `Pavo'. They also produced the lowest percentage of infected fruit, 0% and 7%, respectively, with `Pavo' at 26%.

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449 Cucurbit Viruses in Southern Illinois

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.35.3.471b ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 471B-471

Author(s):

S. Alan Walters ◽

Jeff D. Kindhart ◽

Houston A. Hobbs ◽

Darin M. Eastburn

Keyword(s):

Cucumber Mosaic Virus ◽

Mosaic Virus ◽

Virus Disease ◽

Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus ◽

Growing Season ◽

Yellow Mosaic Virus ◽

Watermelon Mosaic Virus ◽

Southern Illinois ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Transgenic Squash

Cucurbit viruses are a major hindrance to cucurbit production in southern Illinois, often rendering cucumber and summer squash fruit unmarketable. Specific viruses infecting cucurbits in the region need to be determined since this would enable growers to make better decisions on virus disease management. Leaf samples of various cucurbit vegetables that had symptoms of viral infection were collected from grower fields during the 1998 and 1999 growing seasons to determine the predominant cucurbit viruses present. Samples were assayed for the presence of five individual viruses: cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), papaya ringspot virus (PRSV, formerly watermelon mosaic virus-1), squash mosaic virus (SqMV), watermelon mosaic virus (WMV, formerly watermelon mosaic virus-2), and zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). Results from the two years indicated that WMV was the most prevalent virus in southern Illinois. Cucumber mosaic virus was found both years, but only in a low percentage of samples collected each year. Two cucurbit viruses, PRSV and ZYMV, were each identified only in one sample during the 1998 growing season, and neither were found in any of the samples collected during 1999. Squash mosaic virus was not identified in any of the samples collected during 1998; however, for the 1999 growing season, SqMV was identified in 19% of the samples collected, primarily from those samples of transgenic squash that were showing symptoms of virus infection.

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Isolation and Molecular Characterization of a Chilean Isolate of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis.2001.85.6.644 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 85 (6) ◽

pp. 644-648 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

H. Prieto ◽

A. Bruna ◽

P. Hinrichsen ◽

C. Muñoz

Keyword(s):

Coat Protein ◽

Mosaic Virus ◽

Coat Protein Gene ◽

Protein Gene ◽

Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus ◽

Yellow Mosaic Virus ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Sequence Comparisons ◽

Severe Stunting ◽

Chilean Isolate

Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) was described in 1981 affecting squash, melon, and other cultivated cucurbits with severe stunting and yellowing symptoms. It was reported to be present in most countries where cucurbits are grown, and in Chile since 1995, from surveys using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) but without further characterization. A potyvirus was isolated from ELISA-positive symptomatic plants. The results indicate that this virus is ZYMV based on symptoms on herbaceous indicators, immunospecific electron microscopy of the purified particle, and sequencing of 395 bases of the 3′ end of the coat protein gene. The virus was detected in melon, watermelon, and squash plants. In agreement with previous descriptions for ZYMV, the Chilean isolate is a flexuous filamentous particle 740 nm long with one main protein of approximately 36 kDa. Nucleotide sequence comparisons of the 3′ portion of the coat protein gene revealed a high similarity to the Connecticut and California strains.

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First Report of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus Associated with Leaf Crinkle and Yellow Mosaic Diseases of Cucurbit Plants in Mali

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis-94-7-0923b ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 94 (7) ◽

pp. 923-923 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

W. S. Tsai ◽

I. K. Abdourhamane ◽

D. Knierim ◽

J. T. Wang ◽

L. Kenyon

Keyword(s):

Coat Protein ◽

Mosaic Virus ◽

Citrullus Lanatus ◽

Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus ◽

The United States ◽

Yellow Mosaic Virus ◽

Nucleotide Identity ◽

Watermelon Mosaic Virus ◽

Virus Species ◽

First Report

The aphid-transmitted Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV; genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) has been reported to cause severe epidemics and yield losses in cucurbit crops worldwide (1). In Africa, ZYMV has been detected in Algeria, Egypt, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Nigeria, Reunion, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, and Tunisia (1). In April 2009, leaf yellowing, mosaic, crinkling, and curling were common on cucurbit plants in fields in Mali. Symptomatic leaf samples were collected from five cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants in Kati, two watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) plants in Samanko, and one weedy melon (Cucumis sp.) plant in Baguineda. All samples tested positive for ZYMV and were negative for Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV), Papaya ringspot virus type W (PRSV-W), Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV), and Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA. They also tested negative for Melon yellow spot virus (MYSV) by indirect ELISA. Antibodies against ZYMV and WMV were obtained from DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany, and those against CGMMV, MYSV, PRSV-W, and WSMoV were provided by Shyi-Dong Yeh, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Six ZYMV ELISA-positive samples (three cucumber, two watermelon, and the weedy melon sample) were also tested by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR using the potyvirus universal primer pair Sprimer1/Oligo(dT) (2). The expected 1.6-kb viral cDNA was amplified from all six samples and each was sequenced. All sequences obtained from cucumber (GenBank Accession Nos. HM005307, HM005308, and HM005309), watermelon (GenBank Accession Nos. HM005311 and HM005312), and weedy melon (GenBank Accession No. HM005310) isolates were 1,684 nucleotides (nt) long excluding the 3′ poly-A tails. They comprised the 3′-terminal of the NIb region (1 to 633 nt), the coat protein region (634 to 1473 nt), and the 3′-untranslated region (1,474 to 1,684 nt). Because the sequences shared high nucleotide identity (98.3 to 99.7%), these isolates were considered to be the same virus species. When the sequences were compared by BLASTn searching in GenBank and analyzed by DNAMAN Sequence Analysis Software (Lynnon Corporation, St-Louis, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada), they were found to have the greatest nucleotide identity (97.4 to 98.0%) with the Connecticut strain of ZYMV (ZYMV-Connecticut; GenBank Accession No. D00692), within a clade of isolates from China, Italy, Japan, and the United States. When assessed separately, their coat protein (97.7 to 98.3% nucleotide and 98.9 to 99.6% amino acid identity) and 3′-untranslated regions (96.7 to 97.2% identity) also had greatest homology with ZYMV-Connecticut. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ZYMV infecting cucurbit plants in Mali. ZYMV should be taken into consideration when breeding cucurbit crops for this region, and managing viral diseases. References: (1) C. Desbiez et al. Plant Pathol. 46:809, 1997. (2) W. S. Tsai et al. Plant Dis. 94:378, 2010.

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