Persistent, and Asymptomatic Viral Infections and Whitefly-Transmitted Viruses Impacting Cantaloupe and Watermelon in Georgia, USA

Ismaila Adeyemi Adeleke; Saritha Raman Kavalappara; Cecilia McGregor; Rajagopalbabu Srinivasan; Sudeep Bag

doi:10.3390/v14061310

Persistent, and Asymptomatic Viral Infections and Whitefly-Transmitted Viruses Impacting Cantaloupe and Watermelon in Georgia, USA

Viruses. 2022 Jun 15;14(6):1310. doi: 10.3390/v14061310.

Authors

Ismaila Adeyemi Adeleke¹, Saritha Raman Kavalappara¹, Cecilia McGregor², Rajagopalbabu Srinivasan³, Sudeep Bag¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA 31793, USA.
² Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
³ Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223, USA.

Abstract

Cucurbits in Southeastern USA have experienced a drastic decline in production over the years due to the effect of economically important viruses, mainly those transmitted by the sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius). In cucurbits, these viruses can be found as a single or mixed infection, thereby causing significant yield loss. During the spring of 2021, surveys were conducted to evaluate the incidence and distribution of viruses infecting cantaloupe (n = 80) and watermelon (n = 245) in Georgia. Symptomatic foliar tissues were collected from six counties and sRNA libraries were constructed from seven symptomatic samples. High throughput sequencing (HTS) analysis revealed the presence of three different new RNA viruses in Georgia: cucumis melo endornavirus (CmEV), cucumis melo amalgavirus (CmAV1), and cucumis melo cryptic virus (CmCV). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis revealed the presence of CmEV and CmAV1 in 25% and 43% of the total samples tested, respectively. CmCV was not detected using RT-PCR. Watermelon crinkle leaf-associated virus 1 (WCLaV-1), recently reported in GA, was detected in 28% of the samples tested. Furthermore, RT-PCR and PCR analysis of 43 symptomatic leaf tissues collected from the fall-grown watermelon in 2019 revealed the presence of cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus (CCYV), cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV), and cucurbit leaf crumple virus (CuLCrV) at 73%, 2%, and 81%, respectively. This finding broadens our knowledge of the prevalence of viruses in melons in the fall and spring, as well as the geographical expansion of the WCLaV-1 in GA, USA.

Keywords: Georgia; USA; cantaloupe; cucumis melo amalgavirus (CmAV1); cucumis melo cryptic virus (CmCV); cucumis melo endornavirus (CmEV); persistent virus; watermelon; watermelon crinkle leaf-associated virus 1 (WCLaV-1).

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Citrullus*
Cucumis melo*
Georgia / epidemiology
Hemiptera*
Plant Diseases
RNA Viruses* / genetics
Virus Diseases* / epidemiology
Viruses* / genetics

Grants and funding

This work was supported by project accession no. 1020319 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture-HATCH grant awarded to S.B. and the USDA-UGA Cooperative Agreement, project number 58-6080-9-006. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.