Yellow Vine of Watermelon and Pumpkin in Tennesse

Yellow vine (YV) is a recently recognized decline of cucurbits expressed as plant yellowing, phloem discoloration, and death of vines as fruit approach maturity. In severely affected fields, YV incidence can range from 50 to 100% with similar yield loss. The disease has been associated with a phloem-limited, walled bacterium belonging to the gamma-3-proteobacteria (1), for which specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers have been developed and used in diagnosis (2). First observed in 1988 in Oklahoma and Texas squash and pumpkin, YV was not detected in watermelon and cantaloupe until 1991. The disease has never been detected in cucumber. Efforts to date have been unsuccessful in transmitting the disease with dodder, grafting, or selected insects. Initially, the geographic range of the disease appeared to be generally confined to central and northeastern Oklahoma and north central Texas, an area known as the Cross Timbers Region. In 1997 to 1998, YV was diagnosed in commercial fields of watermelon and muskmelon from east Texas (Post Oak Savannah) and all cucurbit-growing areas of Oklahoma. In late summer 1998, symptoms similar to those of YV were observed in one watermelon (Hardeman County) and three pumpkin (Rhea and Morgan counties) fields in Tennessee where the leaves turned yellow and chlorotic and affected plants exhibited phloem discoloration. Estimated incidence of YV ranged from less than 1 to 20% of the plants in affected fields. PCR, with the YV-specific primers (2), amplified a band of the expected size (409 bp) from all watermelon and pumpkin plants exhibiting phloem discoloration. In contrast, no bands were amplified from asymptomatic (no phloem discoloration) watermelon or pumpkin. The nucleotide sequence of the DNA fragment amplified from a Tennessee watermelon and pumpkin plant was identical to that of the YV bacterium. The occurrence of YV outside of the Cross Timbers Region, and in a location as distant as Tennessee, suggests that the disease may be much more widespread than previously recognized. Diagnosis and monitoring of YV in all cucurbit-growing areas is critical for determining the geographic distribution and losses caused by this emerging disease. References: (1) F. J. Avila et al. Phytopathology 88:428, 1998. (2) U. Melcher et al. (Abstr.) Phytopathology. 89(suppl.):S95, 1999.