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Disease Note.

Infection of Capsicum frutescens with Potato Virus YN and Tobacco Etch Virus in the Sudan. P. R. Mills, Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, Belfast BT9 5PX. A. G. M. Abdul-Magid, Faculty of Agriculture, Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan. Plant Dis. 71:557. Accepted for publication 4 February 1987. Copyright 1987 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-0557E.

Capsicumfrutescens L. is an important cash crop grown on the banks of the Nile in the Sudan. Many cultivars have a high percentage (up to 100% an" commonly over 50%) of stunted plants with severe leaf malformation and reduced fruiting. These symptoms occur throughout the year but are particularly evident and severe during the coldest part of the year (November-April) when aphid activity and density are at their peak. Symptomatic plants of the popular cultivar Zalingae, a small-fruited, pointed, pungent pepper type, were shown to contain potato virus yN (PVYN) and tobacco etch virus (TEV) by electron microscopy, aphid transmission, indicator plants, and ELISA. Indirect ELISA using protein A-coated micro titer plates followed by antiserum, sap, antiserum, and protein A conjugated with alkaline phosphatase was used to detect TEV. DAS-ELISA was used to detect pVyN. Transmission by manual inoculation of both these viruses to healthy C. frutescens plants induced similar symptoms. This is the first report of TEV in the Sudan.