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First Report of Nasturtium as a Natural Host of Cherry leaf roll virus on Amsterdam Island

Cherry leaf roll virus (CLRV) is a well-known virus belonging to the genus Nepovirus, but unlike most members of this genus, it is not known to be transmitted by nematodes but only through seeds and pollen. Since its first description in 1955 on Prunus avium L. in England (1), CLRV has been shown to have a worldwide distribution and a wide natural host range. During a survey of plant viruses in the French sub-Antarctic islands, samples from nasturtium plants (Tropaeolum majus), an introduced plant species, showing symptoms of leaf mosaic, deformation, and veinal necrosis were collected on Amsterdam Island. Upon mechanical transmission with sap extracts, necrotic ringspot and oak-leaf symptoms typical of Nepovirus infection were observed on the leaves of inoculated Nicotiana clevelandii and N. tabacum plants. Inoculation of healthy nasturtium plants resulted in mosaic and pin-point necrosis symptoms. Electron microscopy on negatively stained sap extracts revealed the presence of icosahedral virions, 28 to 30 nm in diameter, in the symptomatic Nicotiana leaves. Amplification by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR with a polyvalent test, which identifies viruses belonging to the family Comoviridae (2), yielded the expected 248-bp fragment. Sequencing of the cloned amplicon showed 80% nucleotide and 90% amino acid identity with a part of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of CLRV (CAE83562). To confirm the presence of CLRV, an approximate 4.6-kbp cDNA fragment was PCR amplified from double-stranded RNAs purifed from infected Nicotiana plants using the sense primer 5′-GTGGGACTGCCATGCACCTACTC-3′ and an oligo-T₂₅ as antisense primer. This PCR product (GenBank Accession No. GU167974) spans the region between the VPg gene and the polyA tail at the 3′ end of the genome and thus provides approximately 2.8 kb of new internal sequence information on RNA1 of CLRV. The presence of CLRV in the initial nasturtium samples was confirmed with a CLRV-specific RT-PCR assay that amplifies the 3′ non-coding region of the CLRV genome (3). Sequence of the amplified fragment showed it to be identical to the corresponding part of the 3′ non-coding region of 4.6-kbp clone obtained from the CLRV isolate mechanically transmitted to the N. tabacum and N. clevelandii plants. Experimental infection of nasturtium by CLRV has been reported (4), but to the best of our knowledge these results represent the first report of natural infection of T. majus by CLRV. Given its seed transmissible character in many hosts, CLRV likely was introduced in infected seeds of T. majus imported to the remote sub-Antarctic Amsterdam Island.

References: (1) R. Cropley. Ann. Appl. Biol. 49:524, 1961. (2) V. Maliogka et al. J. Phytopathol. 152:404, 2004. (3) K. Rebenstorf et al. J. Virol. 80:2453, 2006. (4) K. Schmelzer. Phytopathol. Z. 55:317, 1966.