Serological, biological and molecular characterization of viruses causing mosaic diseases on cabbage (Brassica sp L.) in Central Ethiopia

Muluken Kebede; Demsachew Guadie; Dawit Kidanemariam; Adane Abraham

doi:10.1007/s13337-023-00816-z

Serological, biological and molecular characterization of viruses causing mosaic diseases on cabbage (Brassica sp L.) in Central Ethiopia

Virusdisease. 2023 Jun;34(2):213-220. doi: 10.1007/s13337-023-00816-z. Epub 2023 Apr 15.

Authors

Muluken Kebede¹, Demsachew Guadie², Dawit Kidanemariam³, Adane Abraham^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biotechnology, College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, P.O box 16417, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
² Institute of Biotechnology, Addis Ababa University, P.O.Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
³ Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Private Bag 16, Palapye, Botswana.

Abstract

The productivity of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) in Ethiopia has been generally low due to several biotic and abiotic constraints among which are several viral diseases. There is a recent report indicating that this economically important vegetable is seriously affected in Ethiopia by cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) and turnip mosaic virus (TuMV). However, little information exists on the incidence and distribution of these viruses as the previous report is based on samples only from Addis Ababa. In this study, a total of 370 leaf samples were collected from 75 cabbage growing fields in Central Ethiopia in two rounds of survey. Two cabbage varieties locally known as "Habesha gomen" and "Tikur gomen" with virus-like symptoms were collected and tested with Double Antibody Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (DAS-ELISA) using polyclonal antibodies specific to CaMV and TuMV. Results from serological diagnosis were confirmed with PCR and Sanger sequencing. The results indicated a high incidence and wide distribution of both viruses in Central Ethiopia with an average of 29.5% infection for CaMV and 40% for TuMV. Biological inoculation tests for CaMV or TuMV or both on healthy cabbage seedlings gave similar symptoms as those observed in the field. Symptom severity was higher with co-infection of CaMV and TuMV followed by TuMV single infection. BLAST analysis showed that TuMV and CaMV isolates from Ethiopia have nucleotide identity of 95-98% and 93-98%, respectively to previously reported isolates. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that CaMV isolates from Ethiopia are closely related to isolates from USA and Italy within Group II clade whereas TuMV isolates have close similarities with isolates from World B clade including isolates from Kenya, UK, Japan and the Netherlands. The identification of the causative agents of the mosaic disease observed on cabbage in Central Ethiopia may lay the foundation for future management studies.

Keywords: Cauliflower mosaic virus; DAS-ELISA; Ethiopia; PCR; Turnip mosaic virus.

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