Survey of Capsicum Chlorosis Virus (CaCV) in Pepper, Tomato and Cucurbits in Thailand

Abstract

Field survey and sample collection were conducted in the production area of peppers, tomatoes and cucurbits showing orthotospovirus-like symptoms from 11 provinces in Thailand. A total of 154 plant samples were collected and were initially screened by Plate Trapped Antigen-Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (PTA-ELISA) using polyclonal antibody-MYSV6 specific to orthotospovirus. Forty seven samples from peppers, tomatoes and cucurbits were positively to orthotospovirus. CaCV was then detected in 47 samples by Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) using specific primers for non-structural protein (NSs) gene of CaCV. The results showed that 17 samples from peppers, tomatoes and cucurbits were infected with CaCV. Comparison of amino acid sequences of NSs protein of CaCV with other CaCV submitted in GenBank indicated that CaCV infecting pepper, tomato and cucurbits was grouped into 2 clusters - CaCV-AIT and CaCV-NRA. CaCV-AIT infecting peppers, tomato and cucurbits shared 94–97% amino acid sequence identity. CaCV-NRA infecting pepper and tomato shared 92–99% amino acid sequence identity. The amino acid sequence identities between two clusters were 82–91%.