Survey of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) for chickpea stunt disease and associated viruses in India and Pakistan

Chickpea chlorotic dwarf geminivirus (CCDV) and some luteoviruses were associated with chickpea stunt disease in India and Pakistan. One thousand eight hundred and four plants with stunt disease symptoms were collected and tested with poly- and monoclonal antibodies. Bean leafroll luteovirus (BLRV)-like luteoviruses and viruses reacting with an antiserum to a luteovirus isolate from chickpea, tentatively referred to as chickpea luteovirus (CpLV), were involved. Relative prevalence of the viruses varied among the different chickpea-growing areas. The BLRV-like viruses were of minor importance, while CCDV and CpLV-like viruses were widely distributed. The reaction patterns of the luteoviruses from chickpea with monoclonal antibodies differed from those of some known luteoviruses. In addition to CpLV, BLRV, and other luteoviruses, an unidentified, graft-transmissible agent may be involved in the etiology, which is more complex than reported initially.