Molecular detection of Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus viroid-III (CVd-III), and Citrus viroid-IV (CVd-IV) in Palestine

Aswar Abualrob; Osama Alabdallah; Raied Abou Kubaa; Sabri M Naser; Raed Alkowni

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-50271-5

Molecular detection of Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus viroid-III (CVd-III), and Citrus viroid-IV (CVd-IV) in Palestine

Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 3;14(1):423. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-50271-5.

Authors

Aswar Abualrob¹, Osama Alabdallah², Raied Abou Kubaa³, Sabri M Naser¹, Raed Alkowni⁴

Affiliations

¹ Biology and Biotechnology Department, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
² National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Jenin, Palestine.
³ Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
⁴ Biology and Biotechnology Department, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine. ralkowni@najah.edu.

Abstract

Citrus hosts various phytopathogens that have impacted productivity, including viroids. Missing data on the status of viroids in citrus in Palestine were not reported. This study was aimed to detect any of Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus viroid-III (CVd-III), and Citrus viroid-IV (CVd-IV) in the Palestinian National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) germplasm collection Field inspections found symptoms such as leaf epinasty; vein discoloration, and bark cracking on various citrus varieties. RT-PCR revealed a significant prevalence of CVd-IV; CEVd and CVd-III (47%, 31%, and 22%; respectively). CVd-III variants with 91.3% nucleic acid sequence homology have been reported. The sequence of each viroid were deposited in GenBank as (OP925746 for CEVd, OP902248 and OP902249 for CVd-III-PS-1 and -PS-2 isolates, and OP902247 for CVd-IV). This was the first to report three of citrus viroids in Palestine, appealing to apply of phytosanitary measures to disseminate healthy propagating materials free from viroids.

MeSH terms

Arabs
Citrus*
Humans
Plant Diseases
Viroids* / genetics

Supplementary concepts

Citrus dwarfing viroid