Occurrence and diversity of viruses infecting pepper in Serbia

A two-year investigation (2009-2010) of the presence and distribution of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) viruses in Serbia revealed that viruses occur each year in open-field production. Disease incidence, as estimated by the number of symptomatic plants in the field, highly varied depending on the year and sampling locality. Disease incidence ranged from 20% to 60%. Four viruses: Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Potato virus Y (PVY), Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), of which PVY was predominant, were detected by serological testing of pepper samples collected from many localities in Serbia. Molecular detection of PVY was performed based on amplification of a 975 bp fragment in all tested samples, using the specific primers PVYc/PVYd that amplify the gene for P1 protein. The RT-PCR products derived from the four isolates (PL-28-09, PL-15-09, PL-3-10, PL-108-10) of PVY were sequenced (KC288142, KC288143, KC288144, and KC288144, respectively) and compared with the PVY sequences available in GenBank. Sequence analysis, conducted with MEGA5 software, revealed 99.8-100% nt identity among the four Serbian PVY isolates from pepper. The sequences of PVY isolates from Serbia share the highest nucleotide and amino acid identity with isolates from Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, and tobbaco isolate from Serbia. All of the four Serbian isolates were clustered in sub-group N-1 with other European isolates of necrotic strains