Ocurrence of pepper yellow mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus on Capsicum chinense in the state of Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

The habanero chilli pepper, Capsicum chinense is an important crop in the Amazon Basin, mainly grown by small-scale producers. Capsicum chinense plants in an experimental field in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas were found exhibiting characteristic symptoms of viral infection. Leaf sap from symptomatic plants examined under a transmission electron microscope revealed the presence of elongated flexuous particles and isometric particles. Using molecular assays, the viruses were identified as pepper yellow mosaic virus (PepYMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Aphids, identified as Aphis gossypii, were found colonizing the C. chinense plants in the field and may be the vector for both PepYMV and CMV. We report the first occurrence of these viruses infecting C. chinense in the state of Amazonas. Ocorrência do pepper yellow mosaic virus e cucumber mosaic virus emCapsicum chinense no estado do Amazonas, Brasil

Plant Health Newsletter on Horizon Scanning – September 2022

“…Pepper yellow mosaic virus is a pest of solanaceous plants, such as peppers (Moura et al, 2011) 9 , tomatoes (da Cunha et al 2004) 10 and garden petunias (Duarte et al, 2021) 11 . The aphid Aphis gossypii has been associated with the transmission of this virus (Souza et al 2020) 12 . As far as the human-assisted spread is concerned, infected planting material is the most important pathway and mechanical transmission is possible (Moura et al, 2011).…”