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First Report of Pea enation mosaic virus Infecting Pea and Broad Bean in Spain

During the spring of 2007, pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) (cvs. Utrillo and Floreta) showing virus-like symptoms were observed in several commercial fields in the southern and eastern regions of Catalonia, Spain. Incidence of symptomatic plants ranged from 5 to 15% and was distributed in both small and large patches. Infected plants exhibited yellow mosaic leaf symptoms that later became translucent. Leaves gradually curled and in some cases developed enations near the veins on the abaxial surface. Plants were “bushy” and had shortened internodes. Infection prior to pod formation resulted in pods that were distorted and stunted (1). The infected leaves and pods were tested by indirect-ELISA with a potyvirus-specific antibody (Agdia, Elkhart, IN) and double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA with antibodies specific to Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV), Broad bean wilt virus 1 (BBWV-1), Beet western yellow virus (BWYV), Bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV), Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), and Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) (Loewe Biochemica GmbH, Sauerlach, Germany). PEMV was detected in all 24 symptomatic samples that were collected from 10 locations between March 2007 and March 2008. Thirteen of these samples also tested positive for BWYV, but no differences in symptom expression were observed in plants infected with both viruses or PEMV alone. PEMV was also identified in seven broad bean plants (Vicia faba L.) from three additional locations. These plants expressed interveinal yellow mosaic on leaves and deformed pods. The genomic sequence of PEMV-1 (GenBank Accession No. L04573) was used to design primers to amplify a 451-nt segment of the polymerase gene by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR; PEMV-D (5′-TGACCATGAGTCCACTGAGG-3′), PEMV-R (5′-AGTATCTTCCAACAACCACAT-3′). One ELISA-positive sample was analyzed and the expected size amplicon was generated. Direct sequencing (GenBank Accession No. EU652339) revealed that PEMV-1 and our pea isolate have nucleotide sequence identities of 95%. To our knowledge, this is the first report of PEMV in Spain, which might cause important economical losses since PEMV is an important viral disease of pea and other legumes worldwide.

Reference: (1) J. S. Skaf and G. A. Zoeten. No. 372 (No. 257 revised) in: Description of Plant Viruses. AAB, Kew, Surrey, England, 2000.