© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Abstracts - 16th Hellenic Phytopathological Congress
47
are also central to plant immunity against
bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. In
plants,
SERRATE
(SE) encodes a C
2
H
2
zinc-fin-
ger protein and is considered a post-tran-
scriptional regulator of miRNAs levels, pro-
cessing
pri-miRNA
precursors through its
direct interaction with HYL and DCL1.
SER-
RATE
mutants in
Arabidopsis thaliana
affect
leaf polarity, phase transition, meristem ac-
tivity, and inflorescense architecture. Here,
we present the phenotypic analysis of
N.
tabacum
SERRATE-
knockdown plants and
the response of these plants to viral and vi-
roid infection.
SERRATE
knockdown tobac-
co plants show abnormal leaf development
and phase transition delay from the vege-
tative to reproductive phase, compared to
wild type plants. Our experimental data also
suggest that
SERRATE
, and as a consequence
miRNAs, participate in plant biotic defence.
Further studies are required in order to un-
derstand the pathway through which
SER-
RATE
affects plant defence mechanisms.
First report of
Malva vein clearing virus
(MVCV) and
Bean yellowmosaic
virus
(BYMV) in Greece
L. L
OTOS
, C.G. O
RFANIDOU
and N.I. K
ATIS
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural
Environment, School of Agriculture, Laboratory of Plant Pathology, GR-541 24
Thessaloniki, Greece
Genus
Potyvirus
is one of the largest plant
virus genera consisting of 146 members,
many of which have been found to infect or-
namental plants. During the spring-winter
of 2011, ornamentals and weeds exhibiting
viral-like symptoms were observed in the
central area of Thessaloniki city. Sampling of
the aforementioned plants was performed
which were in turn subjected to a two step
generic RT-PCR capable of detecting mem-
bers of the P
otyvirus
genus. The presence of
potyviruses was detected in two plant spe-
cies. More specifically, plants of the species
Malva
sylvestris
exhibiting symptoms of vein
clearing and intraveinal chlorotic patterns
and plants from the genus
Cassia
withmosa-
ic inflicted leaves were found to be infected.
The generic PCR amplicon was sequenced
and the nucleotide sequence was compared
with the ones deposited in the NCBI data-
base using the BLASTn algorithm. The Malva
isolate was found to be 97 % similar with the
Malva vein clearing virus
and the
Cassia
sp.
one was 91 % identical to
Bean yellow mosa-
ic virus
. This is, to our knowledge, the first re-
port of these two viruses in Greece.
First report of a BLRV-like virus in three Fabaceae species
L. L
OTOS
1
, J.T. T
SIALTAS
2
and N.I. K
ATIS
1
1
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural
Environment, School of Agriculture, Laboratory of Plant Pathology, GR-541 24
Thessaloniki, Greece.
2
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture,
Laboratory of Agronomy, GR-541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Bean leafroll virus
(BLRV) belongs to genus
Luteovirus
and is one of the most impor-
tant viruses of Fabaceae, as an early infec-
tion causes severe yield losses of the affect-
ed plants. During the spring of 2011 typical
symptoms of a luteovirus infection were ob-
served in common vetch (
Vicia sativa
L. sub-
sp.
sativa
), bitter vetch (
Vicia ervilia
(L.) Willd.)
and alfalfa (
Medicago
sativa
L. subsp.
sativa
).
Leaf samples were collected from the infect-
ed plants, as well as from healthy ones of the
same species, which were later on checked
for the presence of BLRV with a specific RT-
PCR. This method amplifies a 391bp portion
