Prevalence and incidence of bitter gourd yellow mosaic disease in Punjab

Bitter gourd yellow mosaic disease (BGYMD) is known to be caused by a wide range of viruses belonging to the families Bromoviridae, Potyviridae and Geminiviridae. In the present study, roving survey was conducted in major bitter gourd growing districts of Punjab namely Ludhiana, Patiala and sangrur. the results indicated that the yellow mosaic disease was present in all the three districts surveyed, with a per cent disease incidence ranging from 14–38 per cent. the symptoms ranged from mosaic or mosaic with blistering and curling. the maximum per cent disease incidence was recorded from Malerkotla block of sangrur district. samples showing blistering and mosaic symptoms, diagnosed by serological and PCR based detection were found to be infected with Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) whereas, the samples showing variable mosaic and leaf curl symptoms were confirmed to be infected with begomoviruses via PCR based detection.