Nicotiana occidentalis: A New Herbaceous Host for Blueberry scorch virus.

Blueberry scorch virus(BlScV) is a carlavirus that causes a serious disease of blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) in North America (2). In aphid-transmission studies of BlScV using blueberry as host and test species, we found the rate of transmission to be low, and a lengthy incubation period was required before BlScV could be detected. For sequencing studies, RNA extraction from blueberry using standard methods was unreliable and inefficient. These problems prompted a search for alternate hosts. Of 12 herbaceous hosts screened for BlScV transmission using the blueberry aphid, Ericaphis fimbriata Richards, with mechanical transmission, only Nicotiana occidentalis (Wheeler) became infected. After 3 to 4 weeks, infection of N. occidentalis with BlScV resulted in mild symptoms that included pronounced leaf twisting and swollen leaf veins. Infection with BlScV was confirmed using a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) kit (Agdia Inc., Elkhart, IN), polyclonal antibodies to BlScV from the antiserum collection at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Center, Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Forward (5'-NTAAACACTCCCGAATATAC-3') and reverse (5'-CAGATTGCTTATCCGGCTTC-3') primers were designed with the published sequence of BlScV isolate NJ-02 (GenBank Accession No. NC003499). An amplicon of the expected size was generated and sequenced. BLAST analysis indicated that the nucleotide sequence of the amplified fragment was 87% identical to the corresponding sequence in NJ-02 (1). N. occidentalis was readily infected with BlScV following aphid or mechanical inoculations from blueberry. With E. fimbriata as the aphid vector, the transmission rate from blueberry to N. occidentalis was approximately 26%, compared with 70% for mechanical inoculations. Mechanical transfer of BlScV between infected N. occidentalisplants resulted in a 100% transmission rate. Recently, with N. occidentalis, we have completely sequenced two strains of BlScV from British Columbia, Canada and identified several aphid vector species. The identification of N. occidentalis as an herbaceous host of BlScV greatly facilitates future studies on the virus. References: (1) T. D. Cavileer et al. J. Gen. Virol. 75: 711, 1994. (2) R. R. Martin and P. R. Bristow. Phytopathology 78:1636, 1988.