Bidens mottle virus detected for first time in Brazil

For the first time in Brazil, the presence of Bidens mottle virus (BiMoV) infecting Zinnia sp. and hairy beggartick (Bidens pilosa) plants has been identified. The discovery was made by a team of researchers in Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

The discovery was published in a scientific article led by Professor Gabriel Favara from the Department of Phytosanitary, Rural Engineering, and Soils at Unesp (São Paulo State University). According to the research, flexuous filamentous particles and cytoplasmatic inclusions typical of potyvirus infection were observed by transmission electron microscopy in leaf extracts and cells of symptomatic leaves, respectively.

Infections of both plants with bidens mottle virus (BiMoV) were confirmed by RT-PCR using potyvirus universal primers, followed by the nucleotide sequencing of amplicons, the researchers said. BiMoV-BR was mechanically transmitted and caused systemic infection on Zinnia sp., hairy beggarstick, sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Myzus persicae transmitted the virus to Zinnia sp. plants with an efficacy of between 8 % and 42%, using one and ten aphids per plant, respectively.

″This is the first detection of BiMoV in Brazil. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the distribution of this potyvirus in the country,″ the research stated.

Bidens mottle virus (BiMoV) is a member of the species, Bidens mottle virus, genus Potyvirus, and the family Potyviridae. It was first identified as causing mottling in plants of Bidens spp. and Lepidium spp. in the US. 

Other than the US, the virus has only been reported in Taiwan.

Some BiMoV hosts include plants such as Ammi majus L., Calendula officinalis L., Chrysanthemum coronarium L., Helianthus annuus L., Lupinus angustifolius L., Solanum viarum Dunal, Vicia faba L., and Zinnia elegans Jacq. 

BiMoV can be transmitted by the aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris, Aphis craccivora Koch, A. spiraecola Patch, Lipaphis pseudobrassicae Davis, and Myzus persicae Sulzer in a non-persistent virus-vector relationship.

″All these aphid species occur in Brazil. Seeds do not transmit BiMoV,″ the scientific article said.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)