Tomato spotted wilt virus Identified in Desert Rose in Florida

Desert rose (Adenium obesum (Forssk.) Roem. & Schult), a member of the family Apocynaceae, is characterized by fleshy stems and leaves and colorful flowers. This exotic ornamental, originally from southeast Africa, is propagated vegetatively and is a perennial in warm climates. Virus-like foliar symptoms, including chlorotic ring and line patterns, were observed in the fall of 2004 on one of five stock plants being maintained in a greenhouse in Fort Pierce, FL. Inclusion body morphology suggested the presence of a Tospovirus in the symptomatic plant, and Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) was specifically identified in this plant using a commercially available double antibody sandwich-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA; Agdia, Elkhart, IN). TSWV was not detected in symptomless desert rose plants nor was Impatiens necrotic spot virus detected in any of the plants using DAS-ELISA. Graft transmission of TSWV to other desert rose plants was successful. Sequence analysis of a nucleocapsid (N) protein gene fragment amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers TSWV723 and TSWV722 (1) from total RNA of the symptomatic plant confirmed the diagnosis. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of a 579-bp region of the RT-PCR product were 95 to 99% and 95 to 100% identical, respectively, to TSWV N-gene sequences in GenBank. No product was amplified from symptomless plants. Since these 3-year-old plants were grown on-site from seed and only expressed symptoms 2 months following damage to the greenhouse by hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, it is likely that viruliferous thrips were introduced from local vegetable or ornamental production areas during or following the storms. To our knowledge, this is the first report of TSWV infection of desert rose in Florida, although TSWV was observed in this plant in Europe approximately 10 years ago (3,4). Because of the wide distribution of TSWV in the United States, the increasing popularity of desert rose, and the recent identification of Cucumber mosaic virus in this host (2), attention to sanitation and insect vector management is merited during desert rose propagation and production. References: (1) S. Adkins and E. N. Rosskopf. Plant Dis. 86:1310, 2002. (2) C. A. Baker et al. Plant Dis. 87:1007, 2003. (3) J. Mertelik et al. Acta Hortic. 432:368, 1996. (4) J. Th. J. Verhoeven and J. W. Roenhorst. Acta Hortic. 377:175, 1994.