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Distribution and Incidence of Some Aphid and Leafhopper Transmitted Viruses Infecting Sugar Beets in Iran

The main areas for field-grown sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) production in Iran were surveyed to study the occurrence and incidence of Alfalfa mosaic virus (AlMV), Beet curly top virus (BCTV), Beet mosaic virus (BtMV), Beet western yellows virus (BWYV), Beet yellows virus (BYV), Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus (CpCDV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), and Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) during the growing season of 2001. A total of 5,292 random leaf samples in addition to 1,294 symptomatic leaves were collected from nine commercial sugar beet growing provinces of Iran and tested by tissue-blot immunoassay (TBIA). Serological diagnoses were confirmed by electron microscopy and host range studies. The highest virus incidence among the surveyed provinces was recorded in Qazvin, followed by Fars, Esfahan, Azarbayejan-e-gharbi, Khorasan, Kermanshah, Semnan, and Hamedan. According to the TBIA results, viruses in decreasing order of incidence in sugar beet were BCTV (27.9%), followed by BWYV (17.4%), CpCDV (12.5%), BYV (10.6%), BtMV (7.4%), TuMV (2.9%), AlMV (1.3%), and CMV (1.2%). Nearly 35% of sugar beets in Iran were infected by one or both of the two leafhopper-transmitted viruses (BCTV and CpCDV). Moreover, about 28% were infected by at least one of the six aphid-transmitted viruses (AlMV, BWYV, BtMV, BYV, CMV, and TuMV). Overall, one or more of the eight viruses assayed were detected in 45.5% of the plants surveyed. Several plants (35%) displaying virus-like symptoms did not react with the virus antisera used, suggesting that more viruses or virus-like agents are infecting sugar beets in Iran. In reference to the earlier reports, this is the first report of AlMV and TuMV in sugar beet fields of Iran. Also, this is the first detection of CpCDV as a pathogen of sugar beet.