Partial characterization of coat protein gene of Shallot latent virus associated with garlic in India

Flexuous filamentous particles of Shallot latent virus (SLV), a member of Carlavirus were observed in garlic leaves showing mosaic and chlorotic symptoms by immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM). The SLV was further detected by RT-PCR assays using a pair of primer based on the sequence of 3’ end of coat protein gene of SLV. Partial sequence (308 nucleotides) of Indian isolate of SLV showed maximum sequence identity of 83% and 98% in nucleotide and amino acid sequences respectively with SLV isolates from China and Japan. Transboundary movement of garlic might be responsible for SLV introduction in India and RT-PCR detection of SLV will be highly useful for quarantine and production of virus free garlic in tissue culture.