During the summer of 2003, weed samples of Rapistrum rugosum and Sisymbrium loeselii showing severe mosaic, malformation, and stunting were collected from cauliflower fields in Tehran Province of Iran. Using double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) with specific polyclonal antibodies, the samples were tested for the presence of Beet western yellows virus, Cauliflower mosaic virus, Radish mosaic virus, Turnip crinkle virus, Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) (DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany), Cucumber mosaic virus, and Tobacco mosaic virus (Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur, Marnes-La-Coquette, France). Leaf extracts were used for mechanical inoculation and they produced chlorotic local lesions on Chenopodium amaranticolor, necrotic lesions on leaves and shoot apex necrosis on Nicotiana glutinosa, leaf deformation, mosaic, and stunting on Petunia hybrida, and severe mosaic, distortion, and stunting on Brassica rapa. These symptoms were similar to those that were described previously for TuMV (4). ELISA results showed that the original leaf samples and inoculated indicator plants reacted positively with TuMV antibodies, but not with antibodies for any of the other viruses listed above. Also, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of total RNA extracted from the collected leaf samples using the universal primers for potyviruses (3) resulted in the amplification of two fragments of the expected sizes, approximately 700 and 1,700 bp. TuMV, a member of the genus Potyvirus in the family Potyviridae, is transmitted by aphids in a nonpersistent manner (4). This virus is geographically widespread with a wide host range that can infect 318 species in 156 genera of 43 plant families including, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Solanaceae (2,4). R. rugosum and S. loeselii, two annual or biennial plants in the Brassicaceae family, were common and widely distributed in the fields surveyed. The presence of TuMV-infected weed hosts in cauliflower fields may impact disease management strategies. TuMV was first observed on stock plants (Matthiola sp.) in Iran (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of natural occurrence of TuMV on weed hosts in Iran. References: (1) M. Bahar et al. Iran. J. Plant Pathol. 21:11, 1985. (2) J. R. Edwardson and R. G. Christie. The potyvirus group. Fla. Agric. Exp. Stn. Monogr. Ser. No. 16, 1991. (3) A. Gibbs and A. Mackenzie. J. Virol. Methods 63:9, 1997. (4) J. A. Tomlinson. Turnip mosaic virus. No. 8 in: Descriptions of Plant Viruses. CMI/AAB, Surrey, England, 1970.
