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First Report of Beet necrotic yellow vein virus on Red Table Beet in Brazil

Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) is an economically important pathogen of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris var. saccharifera) in several European, and Asian countries and in the United States (3). The virus is transmitted by the soil-inhabiting plasmodiophorid Polymyxa betae and causes the rhizomania disease of sugar beet. In November 2012, plants of B. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris cv. Boro (red table beet) exhibiting mainly severe characteristic root symptom of rhizomania were found in a commercial field located in the municipality of São José do Rio Pardo, State of São Paulo, Brazil. No characteristic virus-inducing foliar symptom was observed on diseased plants. The incidence of diseased plants was around 70% in the two visited crops. As the hairy root symptom is indicative of infection by BNYVV, the present study aimed to detect and identify this virus associated with the diseased plants. Preliminary leaf dip analysis by transmission electron microscopy revealed the presence of very few benyvirus-like particles. Total RNA was extracted from roots of three symptomatic plants and one asymptomatic plant according to Toth et al. (3). One-step reverse-transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed as described by Morris et al. (2) with primers that amplify part of the coat protein gene at RNA2. The initial assumption that the hairy root symptom was associated with BNYVV infection was confirmed by the amplification of a fragment of ~500 bp from all three symptomatic samples. No amplicon was obtained from the asymptomatic control plant. Amplicons were directly sequenced, and the consensus nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences showed 100% identity. The nucleotide sequence for one amplicon (Accession No. KM433683) was compared with other sequences deposited in GenBank. The nucleotide (468 nt) and deduced amino acid (156 aa) sequences shared 93 to 100 and 97 to 99% identity, respectively with the corresponding nucleotide and amino acid sequences for other isolates of type A of BNYVV. The virus was transmitted to three of 10 red table beet plants inoculated with contaminated soil, and infection was confirmed by nested RT-PCR, as described by Morris et al. (1), and nucleotide sequencing. This is the first report on the occurrence of BNYVV in Brazil, which certainly will affect the yield of red table beet in the producing region. Therefore, mapping of the occurrence of BNYVV in red table beet-producing areas in Brazil for containment of the spread of the virus is urgent. In the meantime, precautions should be taken to control the movement of contaminated soil and beet roots, carrots, or any vegetable grown on infested land that might introduce the virus to still virus-free regions.

References: (1) J. Morris et al. J. Virol. Methods 95:163, 2001. (2) D. D. Sutic et al. Handbook of Plant Virus Diseases. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1999. (3) I. K. Toth et al. Methods for the Detection and Quantification of Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica (Pectobacterium carotovorum subsb. atrosepticum) on Potatoes: A Laboratory Manual. Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee, Scotland, 2002.