Plant Pathology (2015) 64, 1284-1291

J. Kim, E.-J. Kil, S. Kim, H. Seo, H.-S. Byun, J. Park, M.-N. Chung, H.-R. Kwak, M.-K. Kim, C.-S. Kim, J.-W. Yang, K.-Y. Lee, H.-S. Choi and S. Lee (2015)
Seed transmission of Sweet potato leaf curl virus in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
Plant Pathology 64 (6), 1284-1291
Abstract: Sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) infects sweet potato and is a member of the family Geminiviridae (genus Begomovirus). SPLCV transmission occurs from plant to plant mostly via vegetative propagation as well as by the insect vector Bemisia tabaci. When sweet potato seeds were planted and cultivated in a whitefly-free greenhouse, some sweet potato plants started to show SPLCV-specific symptoms. SPLCV was detected by PCR from all leaves and floral tissues that showed leaf curl disease symptoms. More than 70% of the seeds harvested from SPLCV-infected sweet potato plants tested positive for SPLCV. SPLCV was also identified from dissected endosperm and embryos. The transmission level of SPLCV from seeds to seedlings was up to 15%. Southern blot hybridization showed SPLCV-specific single- and double-stranded DNAs in seedlings germinated from SPLCV-infected seeds. Taken altogether, the results show that SPLCV in plants of the tested sweet potato cultivars can be transmitted via seeds and SPLCV DNA can replicate in developing seedlings. This is the first seed transmission report of SPLCV in sweet potato plants and also, to the authors' knowledge, the first report of seed transmission for any geminivirus.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Kyeong-Yeoll Lee

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
transmission/dispersal of plant diseases

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Sweet potato leaf curl virus	Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)