First report of lily mottle virus on lily (Lilium sp.) in southern India.

Lily samples collected from commercial cut flower growing field at Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India were serologically tested through direct antigen coating-ELISA and dot immuno binding assay for the infection of potyvirus through potyvirus group specific polyclonal antibody. The RT-PCR using potyvirus universal degenerate primers (PNIbF1/PCPR1) showed the presence of a potyvirus and the sequencing results showed the association of lily mottle virus (LMoV). Further LMoV was confirmed by RT-PCR amplification using newly designed primer pair covering entire coat protein gene and sequence results showed 100% nucleotide identity with the LMoV reported from South Korean. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed evidence for the occurrence of LMoV on lily in southern India.