Detection of Sweet Potato Virus Disease-Associated Closterovirus in a Sweet Potato Accession in the United States. G. Pio Ribeiro, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Marechal Deodoro, 283, Encruzihada, Recife-PE, Brazil. S. Winter, Pacific Agriculture Research Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1X2; R. L. Jarret, USDA/ARS Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223-1797; J. W. Demski, Department of Plant Pathology, Georgia Experiment Station, Griffin 30223-1797; and Richard I. Hamilton, Pacific Agriculture Research Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1X2. Plant Dis. 80:551. Accepted for publication 5 January 1996. Copyright 1996 Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food,Government of Canada. DOI: 10.1094/PD-80-0551.

A closterovirus (sweet potato virus disease-associated closterovirus [SPVD-aC]) that, in association with sweet potato feathery mottle potyvirus (SPFMV), causes the Nigerian sweet potato virus disease (SPVD), was detected in sweet potato (Ipomoea selosa) following grafting of infected scions of sweet potato cv. White Bunch, an accession in the USDA sweet potato repository. Confirmation of infection with SPVD-aC was by a riboprobe hybridization assay specific for the viral RNA coupled with chemiluminescent detection of the bound RNA, and SPFMV was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a specific anti-serum. This is the first report of SPVD-aC and of SPVD in sweet potato in North America. Use of the riboprobe hybridization assay should facilitate a more rapid detection of SPVD-aC infected sweet potato and subsequent selection of virus-free germ plasm for international exchange.