First Report of Grapevine Syrah virus-1 in Chilean Grapevines

At least 58 viruses have been reported to infect grapevines, causing economic damage globally. Our lab has reported previously the presence of more than 10 viral species in Chilean grapevines (2,3). Grapevine Syrah virus-1 (GSyV-1) is a novel marafivirus recently described in California vineyards (1). Grapevine virus Q (GVQ) was described shortly after GSyV-1 and both genomes share more than 99% nucleotide identity (4). Since GSyV-1 and GVQ correspond to the same viral species, the name GSyV-1 will be used in the current note to avoid confusion. Forty dormant cane samples from 12 different cultivars were collected from different regions of Chile and screened by reverse transcription-PCR. One of the 40 samples (cv. Syrah) collected from the VI region of Chile was found to be infected with GSyV-1 using two different pairs of GSyV-1-specific primers. The first pair of primers GSyV-1Det-F: 5'-CAAGCCATCCGTGCATCTGG -3' and GSyV-1Det-R: 5'-GCCGATTTGGAACCCGATGG -3' (1), was used to amplify a 297-bp fragment corresponding to a partial region of the putative methyltransferase gene. The sequence (GenBank Accession No. GU566025) shared 87% nucleotide and 100% amino acid identities with the corresponding fragment of a Californian GSyV-1 isolate (GenBank Accession No. FJ436028). Since there are no commercial antibodies available for GSyV-1 detection, a second pair of primers, GVQCP-F: 5'-TCCCAGCTTCAGGGTGAATT -3' and GVQCP-R: 5'-GCATTGCTGCGCATTGGAGG -3' (4), that amplified a 720-bp fragment of the putative coat protein gene was also used. The sequence of 720 bp from the Chilean sample (GenBank Accession No. GU566024) shared 92% nucleotide and 98% amino acid identities with the corresponding fragment of a Californian GSyV-1 isolate (GenBank Accession No. FJ436028). The GSyV-1-positive sample was also infected with Grapevine fleck virus and Grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus that have been reported previously in Chile. To our knowledge, this is the first report of GSyV-1 in Chile. Further studies will help to establish the incidence and effects of this virus in Chilean grapevines. References: (1) M. Al Rwahnih et al. Virology 387:395, 2009. (2) E. Engel et al. J. Virol. Methods. 163:445, 2010. (3) P. F. Escobar et al. Plant Dis. 92:1474, 2008. (4) S. Sabanadzovic et al. Virology 394:1, 2009.