First records of Beet western yellows virus, Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus, Faba bean necrotic yellows virus and Soybean dwarf virus infecting chickpea and lentil crops in Iran

An intensive survey was conducted during May-June, 2001, to identify virus diseases affecting chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) crops in five provinces (Qazvin, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, East Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan) of Iran. A total of 6979 chickpea and 1760 lentil samples were collected randomly from 51 chickpea and 13 lentil fields (100−150 samples per field). These samples were tested for the presence of 13 different legume viruses by the tissue-blot immunoassay procedure (Lin et al., 1990), using a battery of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. Lentil and chickpea cut stem surfaces were blotted on nitrocellulose membrane and then processed. Rabbit polyclonal antisera used were for Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus (CpCDV) (Horn et al., 1993), Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV-1), Alfalfa mosaic virus (AlMV), Bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV), Broad bean mottle virus (BBMV), Broad bean stain virus (BBSV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) (Virology Laboratory, ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria). In addition, five monoclonal antibodies for the detection of Faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV) (Franz et al., 1996), Beet western yellows virus (BWYV) (ATCC PVAS-647), Soybean dwarf virus (SbDV) (ATCC PVAS-650), Potato leaf roll virus (PLRV) (ATCC PVAS-649) and Bean leaf roll virus (BLRV) (4B10) (Katul, 1992) were used. Membranes blotted with cut stem surfaces of chickpea or lentil infected with characterised isolates of all the viruses tested served as positive controls and blots of healthy plants served as negative controls.

Laboratory testing of chickpea samples indicated that the overall incidence (% samples) was 11.1%; CpCDV was the most common with an overall average of 4.3%, followed by BLRV (4.1%), FBNYV (1.1%), BWYV (0.9%), AlMV (0.4%), BYMV (0.2%), SbDV (0.1%) and PSbMV (0.01%). Whereas, the overall virus disease incidence in lentil samples was 22.2%; PEMV-1 was the most common (8.9%), followed by BLRV (7.3%), FBNYV (2.7%), PSbMV (1.8%), BBSV (0.7%), CpCDV (0.5%) and AlMV (0.3%). There were marked differences in virus disease incidence among the regions and the highest incidence of virus infection in chickpea was in Kermanshah province.

This is the first report of FBNYV, CpCDV and BWYV naturally infecting chickpea and lentil in Iran; and SbDV infecting chickpea in Iran and probably in the world. FBNYV and BLRV were detected in all five provinces surveyed; whereas, CpCDV was detected in Kermanshah, Kurdistan and East Azarbaijan; BWYV detected in Kermanshah and Kurdistan and SbDV was detected in Kermanshah, Kurdistan and West Azarbaijan.