Abstract
Beet curly top virus (BCTV) and beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIV) are known as the causal agents of curly top disease in beet and several other dicotyledonous plants in Iran. These viruses are transmitted by Circulifer species, and until now, there has been no confirmed report of their seed transmission. A percentage (38.2–78.0%) of the seedlings developed from the seeds of a petunia local cultivar under insect-free conditions showed stunting, interveinal chlorosis, leaf curling, and vein swelling symptoms, and were infected by BCTV when tested by PCR. Presence of BCTV in seed extracts of petunia local cultivar was confirmed by PCR and IC-PCR, followed by sequencing. Agroinoculation of curly top free petunia plants with a BCTV infectious clone resulted in BCTV infection of plants and their developed seeds. These results show the seed infection and transmission of BCTV in a local cultivar of petunia. Similar experiments performed with BCTIV showed that this virus is also seed transmissible in the same cultivar of petunia, although with a lower rate (8.8–18.5%). Seed transmission of curly top viruses may have significant implications in the epidemiology of these viruses.
Highlights
Top is a destructive disease of sugar beet and a limiting factor in the semi-arid regions of the world, such as the Middle East and the Western US
When extracts obtained from the leaves leaves of symptomatic plants were analyzed by for the presence of Beet curly top virus (BCTV)-Svr and beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIV), most of symptomatic plants were analyzed by PCR for the presence of BCTV-Svr and BCTIV, most plants plants showed the presence of BCTV-Svr
It was shown that sweet potato leaf curl virus, tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), and mung bean yellow mosaic virus (MBYMV), three distinct begomoviruses, can be transmitted via seeds in sweet potato, tomato, and black gram cultivars, respectively [16,17]
Summary
Top is a destructive disease of sugar beet and a limiting factor in the semi-arid regions of the world, such as the Middle East and the Western US. Include stunted and distorted plant growth, leaf curling, vein swelling, and necrosis of hyperplasic phloem [1]. Since the first report from Iran in 1967 [2], curly top has been an economically important disease of sugar beet in this country. Natural infection of petunia plants with BCTV-Svr and BCTIV grown at greenhouses and street sides in Shiraz city have already been reported [3,4]. Petunia plants infected with BCTV-Svr and BCTIV showed a range of symptoms, including yellowing, interveinal chlorosis, severe leaf curling and deformation, shortening of internodes, and stunting [3,4,5]
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