First Report of Celery mosaic virus Infecting Celery in Venezuela

Celery mosaic virus (CeMV) is a significant pathogen of celery (Apium graveolens) worldwide (1). In 2005, in a produce market located in Los Salias, Miranda, celery plants with mottling and leaf malformation were noticed. Electron microscopic analysis of leaf-dip preparations from three symptomatic samples revealed flexuous viral particles that were 750 nm long. Infected cells contained pinwheel inclusions typical of those associated with potyvirus infection. Inoculation of healthy celery plants with leaf extracts from four symptomatic plants produced symptoms identical to those first observed. A survey of five produce markets in Miranda was conducted to determine the prevalence of virus infection in celery using serological and molecular analyses. Mottling and malformation of celery leaflets were observed in all the markets visited. Symptoms were noted in all five markets in each of three visits during a 3-month period. A total of 125 postharvested symptomatic plants were collected from five markets on March 29, 2005 and tested for CeMV using double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) with antiserum provided by F. Rabenstein, BAX, Aschersleben, Germany. Of the 125 samples collected during the survey, 53% were ELISA positive. Twenty ELISA-positive samples were also tested using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with general primers for the family Potyviridae (2). All 20 samples produced an amplicon of the expected size (1.7 kbp) after RT-PCR. Amplicons from three samples were cloned into the pCR-TOPO vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). Sequence analysis of one clone revealed more than 98% nt to a CeMV isolate from Australia (GenBank Accession No AF203532). To our knowledge, this is the first report of CeMV in Venezuela. Our results suggest that the disease may be widely spread on celery crops growing in the areas surrounding produce markets in Miranda State. References: (1) A. Brunt et al. Viruses of Plants. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK. 1996. (2) J. Chen et al. Arch. Virol. 146:757, 2001.