Strawberry latent ringspot virus Infecting Roses in India. S. Kulshrestha, V. Hallan, G. Raikhy, R. Ram, and A. A. Zaidi, Floriculture Division, IHBT (CSIR) P.O. Box 6, Palampur-176 061 (H.P.), India. IHBT Communication No. 0337. Plant Dis. 88:86, 2004; published on-line as D-2003-1117-01N, 2004. Accepted for publication 27 September 2003.

Rose is an economically important crop of India and the world. A survey of rose plantations in and near the Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh, India, showed virus-like symptoms, including yellow flecking in young leaves and reduction in leaflet size, while some were symptomless. These symptoms are similar to those for Strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRSV) (1). Sap inoculation from symptomatic and some symptomless leaves to Chenopodium amaranticolor resulted in chlorotic local lesions followed by systemic chlorosis. SLRSV was detected in this indicator host and six rose cultivars (Happiness, Iceberg, First Prize, Ganga, Pink Panther, and Oklahoma) showing characteristic symptoms of SLRSV using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with ELISA kit (DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed with SLRSV-specific primers (2), and a product of the expected size of ~181 bp was amplified. The authenticity of the fragment was confirmed by sequencing. Isolated SLRSV was also inoculated to seed-grown rose seedlings and after 20 days postinoculation the same symptoms (yellow flecking in young leaves) were observed. These results established the identity of the virus that caused yellow flecking on rose leaves in India as SLRSV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of SLRSV infecting rose in India.

References: (1) A. F. Murant. Strawberry latent ringspot virus. No. 126 in: Description of Plant Viruses, CMI/AAB, Surrey, U.K., 1974. (2) E. Bertolini et al. J. Virol. Methods 96:33, 2001.