Emerging threat of thrips-borne Melon yellow spot virus on melon and watermelon in Taiwan

Abstract

The thrips-borne Melon yellow spot virus (MYSV) has recently been found infecting cucurbits in Taiwan. However, this virus was indistinguishable from another thrips-borne virus species Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV), which has been devastating on cucurbits in Taiwan for decades, when the antisera against their nucleocapsid proteins (NPs) were used for diagnosis. To understand the incidences of WSMoV and MYSV in melon and watermelon fields, a survey was conducted in central and southern Taiwan from July 2007 to December 2009. The samples collected from symptomatic plants were tested by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to the NP of WSMoV or MYSV and the reliability of the results was verified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using species-specific primers. Among a total of 10,480 melon samples collected, 6% and 18.2% of them were found singly infected with WSMoV and MYSV, respectively, and 0.16% infected with both viruses. On the other hand, among 1,811 watermelon samples assayed, 22.4% and 9.2% samples were singly infected with WSMoV and MYSV, respectively, and 0.17% were infected with both viruses. In addition, the aphid-borne viruses Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), Papaya ringspot virus watermelon type (PRSV-W) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) were also detected as prevalent viruses. Our results indicated that mixed infection with the two thrips-borne viruses is rare. Moreover, host preference for both viruses is different; WSMoV prevails on watermelon whereas MYSV is more widespread on melon. We conclude that MYSV has become a serious threat for watermelon and melon production in Taiwan and the possible control measures are discussed.