Page 3 - Volume 2,Issue 2, July 2009
Basic HTML Version
© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal
2:
47-56, 2009
REVIEW ARTICLE
Pepino mosaic virus
R.A.A. van der Vlugt
Summary
Pepino mosaic virus
(PepMV) is a relatively new plant virus that has become a significant ag-
ronomical problem in a relatively short period of time. It is a member of the genus
Potexvirus
within the
family
Flexiviridae
and is readily mechanically transmissible. It is capable of infecting tomato (
Solanum
lycopersicum
) and other Solaneceous host plants. Since its description in 1980 from pepino plants (
So-
lanum muricatum
) collected in 1974 in Peru, the virus remained unknown for a long time until it man-
ifested itself in commercial tomato crops in Europe in 1999. Since then the virus has been reported
worldwide and the disease it causes has become important in commercial tomato production. Since
1999, new strains of the virus have been described which differ from the original pepino isolate. The
fast spread of the virus and the appearance of mixed infections with the new strains may play an im-
portant role in the increase of the agricultural importance of this viral disease.
Additional keywords
: epidemiology, potexvirus, virus strains, virus symptoms
2001) and The Netherlands (Van der Vlugt
et
al.
, 2000). Since 2005, new strains of the vi-
rus have appeared and PepMV has spread
very rapidly throughout tomato-producing
areas. It is now reported nearly worldwide
and can cause significant damage in com-
mercial tomato crops.
Host range and symptomatology
PepMV was originally found on pepino (
S.
muricatum)
in Peru (Jones
et al.
, 1980). Later
surveys showed several related wild
Lycoper-
sicon
spp. being infected with PepMV (Soler
et al.,
2002). These included
L. peruvianum
,
L. parviflorum
,
L. chilense
,
L. chmielewskii
and
L. pimpinellifolium
. Infection of these wild
species by PepMV appears to be generally
symptomless.
PepMV natural host range seems to be
mainly restricted to the family Solanace-
ae of which many species become infect-
ed systemically. The virus main hosts ap-
pear to be
Lycopersicon
spp. and
Solanum
spp. The originally described pepino strain
was found on wild and commercial tuber-
Introduction
The first finding of
Pepino mosaic virus
(Pep-
MV) dates back to 1974 in field samples of
pepino plants (
Solanum muricatum
) collect-
ed in the Canete valley in coastal Peru and
showing yellow mosaic in young leaves
(Jones
et al.
, 1980). Typical filamentous po-
texvirus particles of approximately 500 nm
were observed in the electron microscope
(EM). Serologically these particles did not re-
act with antisera against
Potato virus
X (PVX)
but appeared most closely related to
Narcis-
susmosaic virus
(NaMV). Host ranges, howev-
er, of the two viruses differed considerably.
The authors concluded that
Pepino mosaic
virus
was a new and distinct potexvirus.
Since its first description, the virus has
not been reported again and was not con-
sidered to be of any agricultural significance.
In 1999, however, it was detected in protect-
ed commercial tomato crops (
Solanum lyco-
persicum
) in the UK (Mumford and Metcalfe,
Plant Research International, Wageningen, The Neth-
erlands.
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