Authors
S. de Breuil, CONICET fellow, and
M. S. Nievas and
F. J. Giolitti, Instituto de Fitopatología y Fisiología Vegetal (IFFIVE-INTA), Córdoba, Argentina;
L. M. Giorda, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Manfredi, Córdoba, Argentina; and
S. L. Lenardon, IFFIVE-INTA, Córdoba, Argentina
ABSTRACT
This is the first survey to determine the occurrence, prevalence, and distribution of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) viral diseases in Argentina. It was conducted in the province of Córdoba, which has 92% of the country's peanut production. It included the main peanut viruses Peanut mottle virus (PeMoV), Peanut stripe virus (PStV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Peanut stunt virus (PSV), Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), and Groundnut ringspot virus (GRSV). Leaf samples from 1,028 individual peanut plants with virus-like symptoms and 986 samples from asymptomatic plants were collected in six counties of Córdoba over 3 years and serologically tested for the presence of viruses. PeMoV was the most frequently detected virus, found in 58.8, 34.2, and 23.4% of samples from the 2003--04, 2004--05, and 2005--06 growing seasons, respectively, and it was found in all sampled counties. Also, it was the only virus detected in asymptomatic plants. Less than 4% of symptomatic plants were infected with CMV or GRSV; 0.5, 3.6, and 2% of samples were positive for CMV; and 0.5, 3.1, and 1.6% were positive for GRSV in the 2003--04, 2004--05 and 2005--06 seasons, respectively. Some mixed infections were found: CMV-PeMoV and GRSV-PeMoV. During this survey, PSV, PStV, and TSWV were not detected in any peanut samples.
