Abstract
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), the type species of the genus Tospovirus has long been reported infecting economically important horticultural crops such as tomato, groundnut, pepper, potato and soybean, all over the world. In Sri Lanka, characteristic tospovirus symptoms such as bud necrosis, axillary shoot proliferation and ring spots were observed on leaves of groundnut in Angunakolapalassa, and concentric rings on leaves and fruits of tomato, in Ambalantota and Gannoruwa. Sap extracted from both tomato and groundnut plants was serologically positive for TSWV infection in a double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay (DASELISA), but not for Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV). Nucleocapsid (N) genes of both isolates were amplified in Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reactions (RT-PCR) using primers specific for TSWV and GBNV. The sequences obtained showed 98% amino acid sequence identity to the N gene of the Brazilian isolate of TSWV-BR-01. This study confirms the presence of TSWV infecting groundnut and tomato in Sri Lanka.
Highlights
The genus Tospovirus represents the only genus infecting plants within the family Bunyaviridae
Samples were collected from different vegetable crops showing symptoms resembling of those caused by tospoviruses as could be judged from pictures on the internet
It was difficult to distinguish between tospovirus infections and infections by any other virus by visual inspection only
Summary
The genus Tospovirus represents the only genus infecting plants within the family Bunyaviridae. The viruses of the other four genera of this family infect animals. The viruses of the genera Orthobunyavirus, Nairovirus and Phleobvirus are arthropod-borne, while those of the genus Hantavirus are spread by excretions of rodents. Some species infect cattle and humans after exposure to the transmitting vectors and cause serious diseases such as Rift valley fever, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (Goldbach & Peters 1994). Tospoviruses infect a wide range of economically important vegetables, legumes and ornamental plants, and numerous weed species in subtropical and temperate regions in the world (Pappu et al 2009). The genome consists of three RNA molecules referred to as large (L), The tospoviruses are transmitted by thrips (Thripidae, Thysanoptera) in a circulativepropagative manner
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