Banana streak virus is very diverse in Uganda

Banana streak virus (BSV) is a badnavirus that causes a viral leaf streak disease of banana and plantain (Musa spp.). Identified in essentially all Musa growing areas of the world, it has a deleterious effect on the productivity of infected plants as well as being a major constraint to Musa breeding programmes and germplasm dissemination. Banana is a staple food in Uganda which is, per capita, one of the worlds largest banana producers and consumers. BSV was isolated from infected plants sampled across the Ugandan Musa growing area and the isolates were analysed using molecular and scrological techniques. These analyses showed that BSV is very highly variable in Uganda. They suggest that the variability is, in part, due to a series of introductions of banana into Uganda, each with a different complement of infecting viruses. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.