First Report of Taro bacilliform CH virus (TaBCHV) on Taro (Colocasia esculenta) in Hawaii, U.S.A

Abstract

Taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott), a member of the Araceae family, is a traditional root crop of the tropics grown for its edible corms and leaves. The crop also has significant cultural and export importance, particularly in Pacific Island communities (Revill et al. 2005). Taro bacilliform CH virus (TaBCHV) is a putative member of the genus Badnaviruses, family Caulimoviridae that was recently described on taro in China (Kazmi et al. 2015). In May 2016, the leaves of a taro plant showing feather-like chlorosis and mosaic symptoms were collected from the University of Hawaii’s Waimanalo Research Station (21°20′13.9″N, 157°42′50.6″W) on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Total RNA was isolated using the RNeasy® Plant mini Kit (Qiagen, Redwood City, CA, USA), according to manufacturer’s instructions. Randomly-primed cDNA was synthesized and served as template in PCR using three primer sets targeting TaBCHV: TB1009-F (5’-ggctctgagagaagagctagc-3’) and TB1619-R (5’-atgtgtatgaactgcactctg-3’) which amplify a 611-bp ...