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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #358351
Research Project: Biological, Genetic and Genomic Based Disease Management for Vegetable Crops

Location: Vegetable Research

Title: Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus: Seed transmissibility, seed health assays and screening watermelon germplasm for disease resistance

Author
item Ling, Kai-Shu
item SUI, XUELIAN - Fujian Agricultural & Forestry University
item Li, Rugang
item Gilliard, Andrea
item Levi, Amnon
item WU, ZUJIAN - Fujian Agricultural & Forestry University

Submitted to: Cucurbitaceae Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2018
Publication Date: 11/12/2018
Citation: Ling, K., Sui, X., Li, R., Gilliard, A.C., Levi, A., Wu, Z. 2018. Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus: Seed transmissibility, seed health assays and screening watermelon germplasm for disease resistance. Cucurbitaceae 2018. http://cucurbit2018.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018_Cucurbits_Abstracts_Book.pdf Abstracts P9.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV), a tobamovirus in the family Tobamoviridae, seriously affects cucurbit crop productions around the world as an endemic disease in Asia and Europe and an emerging disease in North America and Australia. This seed-borne virus is very contagious and poses serious threat to all types of cucurbit crops, including cucumber, melon, watermelon, and squash. Planting clean and certified seeds is an important measure in disease prevention. Currently, both standard method of seed health assay and resistant genetic materials are not available in watermelon. In the present study, we investigated the nature of seed transmissibility and compared various molecular and serological methods for CGMMV detection. In an effort to breeding watermelon for resistance to CGMMV, we evaluated the 1,486 accessions of USDA watermelon germplasm. Using a Canadian isolate of CGMMV (in Asian genotype), through mechanical inoculation on seedlings and symptom observation, plants from seven accessions with putative resistance (tolerance) to CGMMV were selected. A repeat screening was conducted using the seedlings generated through self-pollination of selected plants. The tolerance to CGMMV was confirmed on those Citrullus colocynthis lines, but not C. lanatus lines. Those CGMMV-tolerant C. colocynthis plants had no apparent visible symptom, although a lower titer of virus could be detectable using lab tests. The genetic materials from those advance-selected C. colocynthis lines could be useful for breeding watermelon cultivar or rootstock with resistance to CGMMV.