Potato viruses in central Saudi Arabia

Ouchterlony agar double diffusion test aod ELISA were used to detect viruses infecting potato in Gassim and Riyadh, the two major regions for potato production in central Saudi Arabia. From these two regions, 259 diseased plant samples were collected. The agar double diffusion test was used to detect viruses in the samples collected in the first season (Autumn, 1989) while ELISA was used for samples collected in the last three seasons of survey (Autumn 1990, Spring 1990 and 1991). Twelve viruses were detected in each region. These were Alfalfa mosaic (AMV), cucumber mosaic (CMV), potato leafroll (PLRV), the potato viruses A, M, S, X and Y, potato yellow dwarf (pYDV), tobacco mosaic (TMV), tobacco ring spot (TRSV) and tomato spotted wilt (TSWY). AMV was the most frequently detected virus in each of the two regions but PLRV and TRSV were the least detected in Gassim and Riyadh regions, respectively. Key words: Potato viruses, central area, Saudi Arabia, ELISA