1Mahyco Research Center, Jalna-Aurangabad Road, Dawalwadi, Jalna-431203, Maharashtra.
2Center for Biotechnology, Jawarlal Nehru Technological Univeristy, Hyderabad.
Abstracts of the papers presented at the 16th Annual Convention and International Symposium of Indian Virological Society on “Management of Vector-Borne Viruses” at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru-502324, Hyderabad, India, February 7–10, 2006.
Tobacco streak virus (TSV) is an emerging threat to sunflower and peanut cultivation in India. Surveys were conducted during 2002 to 2004 in the predominant sunflower and peanut growing regions of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The disease incidence recorded up to 95%, 80%, 20%, 25% and 40% in sunflower, peanut, cotton, okra and soybean crops respectively with characteristic symptoms of necrosis on the affected plant parts except in okra with mosaic mottling and veinal chlorosis. The virus was found to be endemic in Ananthpur & Kurnool of AP; Bellary, Raichur & Gulbarga of Karnataka and Jalna, Latur and Osmanabad of Maharashtra. In a host range study, out of twenty six plant species from seven families tested, twenty two were infected under green house condition upon mechanical sap inoculations. Cloned and sequenced TSV-CP gene from 53 virus isolates collected over three years from ten different host species revealed 98–100% and 97100% homology at nucleotide and amino acid respectively. The Indian isolates shared 88–89% homology with the reference TSV Wisconsin isolate from USA. Over expressed and purified TSV-CP from a representative virus isolate and produced recombinant polyclonal antibodies. An ELISA based assay was developed and detected the virus immunologically in eighteen host species. The TSV-CP gene construct was transformed into tobacco using Agrobacterium mediated transformation. Evaluation of T1, T2 and T3 progenies was carried out and identified a putative transgenic event with virus protection under green house condition.
