CHARACTERIZATION OF CUCUMBER MOSAIC VIRUS ISOLATES FROM VALERIANA JATAMANSI, A MEDICINAL HERB IN INDIA

Abstract

Valeriana jatamansi is a highly threatened and important medicinal herb that grows at an altitude of 1200-3000 metres above sea level in the Himalayan region. During 2012-2013, V. jatamansi plants displaying interveinal chlorosis were collected from three different sites including Bir- Billing (Kangra district), Ghatasni (Mandi district), and the herbal garden of CSIR-IHBT, Palampur (Kangra district). Leaf samples were analyzed by RT-PCR for Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection using detection primers (De Blas et al., 1994), followed by primers designed to amplify the full-length coat protein (CP) and movement protein (MP) genes (Kumari et al., 2013). Symptomatic samples of Bir-Billing (B), Ghatasni (G) and the herbal garden (P) were infected with distinct CMV isolates. CMV-B shared 97.4% (CP) and 98.2% (MP) nucleotide sequence identity with the respective genes of strain Q (subgroup II) while CMV-G and P isolates shared 95.4-95.5% (CP) and 96.2-96.7% (MP) identity with the respective genes of CMV strain Fny (subgroup I). Sequences were submitted to EMBL database as accession Nos. HG425124, and HG955232-HG955236. Phylogenetic analysis clustered CMV subgroup I isolates from V. jatamansi along with subgroup IA members, including isolates from India and China, suggesting their Asian origin. To our knowledge, this is the first characterization of CMV isolates from V. jatamansi.