Disease Note.

Infection of Capsicum frutescens with Potato Virus Y^N and Tobacco Etch Virus in the Sudan. P. R. Mills, Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, Belfast BT9 5PX. A. G. M. Abdul-Magid, Faculty of Agriculture, Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan. Plant Dis. 71:557. Accepted for publication 4 February 1987. Copyright 1987 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-0557E.

Capsicumfrutescens L. is an important cash crop grown on the banks of the Nile in the Sudan. Many cultivars have a high percentage (up to 100% an" commonly over 50%) of stunted plants with severe leaf malformation and reduced fruiting. These symptoms occur throughout the year but are particularly evident and severe during the coldest part of the year (November-April) when aphid activity and density are at their peak. Symptomatic plants of the popular cultivar Zalingae, a small-fruited, pointed, pungent pepper type, were shown to contain potato virus y^N (PVY^N) and tobacco etch virus (TEV) by electron microscopy, aphid transmission, indicator plants, and ELISA. Indirect ELISA using protein A-coated micro titer plates followed by antiserum, sap, antiserum, and protein A conjugated with alkaline phosphatase was used to detect TEV. DAS-ELISA was used to detect pVy^N. Transmission by manual inoculation of both these viruses to healthy C. frutescens plants induced similar symptoms. This is the first report of TEV in the Sudan.