Occurrence of viruses in Calla and Peruvian lily in Tuscan nurseries and evidence of new viral records in Italy

Abstract

In order to evaluate the health status of Calla and Peruvian lily in Tuscan nurseries, 18 viruses belonging to six families and one unassigned virus were assayed. Tests were carried out on 90 Zantedeschia aethiopica plants and 48 Alstroemeria spp. plants collected from 12 Tuscan nurseries in two years, via RT-PCR tests. Z. aethiopica was mainly affected by viruses belonging to the Potyviridae family, with the main infection caused by Dasheen mosaic virus (DsMV) and Zantedeschia mild mosaic virus (ZaMMV). Even if Alstroemeria spp. plants were affected by Potyviridae family viruses too, higher infection rates were recorded for Betaflexiviridae , where Lily symptomless virus infected more than half of plants. This is the first known report of Lily mottle virus (LMoV) in Alstroemeria spp. and Z. aethiopica or ZaMMV in Alstroemeria spp. in Italy.