EVOLUTION AND MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF THE PAPAYA RINGSPOT VIRUS IN THE CUCURBITACEAE FAMILY GROWN IN MULTIPLE LOCALES IN ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA
THARACHAND NAIDU LANKIPALLI
Department of Virology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, A.P., India
NAVEEN THANJAVURR
Department of Virology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, A.P., India
PUSHPALATHA PULAVARTHI
Department of Virology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, A.P., India
CHARITHA DEVI MEKALA *
Department of Virology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, A.P., India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present study aimed to understand the evolution and molecular epidemiology of Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV-W) in various regions of Andhra Pradesh, India. To screen PRSV-W suspected samples from different cucurbit orchards in different locations of Andhra Pradesh, we employed a Direct antigen coating enzyme linked immune sorbent test (DAC-ELISA) with polyclonal antibodies generated against PRSV. In Papaya ring spot virus was-w cultivated in pumpkin plants, characteristics such dilution endpoint, heat inactivation, and in vitro survival were evaluated. The virus was initially characterised using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and full length coat protein (CP) amplification through Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study from the Andhra Pradesh region of India. The level of variability among PRSV-W isolates in Andhra Pradesh was shown by sequence analyses of PRSV-W isolates. The research also revealed that PRSV-W potentially infect a variety of different plants. The findings of this study show that PRSV has a wide host range, as well as its potential influence on economically significant crops and the development of PRSV resistant cucurbit cultivars.
Keywords: Cucurbitaceae, Papaya ringspot virus, Epidemiology, RT-PCR, TEM