Molecular characterization of a Cucumber mosaic virus isolate associated with mosaic disease of banana in India

Severe mosaic accompanied by leaf and fruit deformation symptoms was observed on banana plants growing in three banana farms of Uttar Pradesh, India. The disease incidence was approximately 18–25% at these locations during the three successive years from 2005 to 2007. The occurrence of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) was initially detected by bioassay, electron microscopic observations, Western blot immunoassay and RT-PCR. For molecular identification of virus, the RNA 1a, RNA 2b and RNA 3 genomic fragments were amplified by RT-PCR and sequenced. The sequence analysis of these genomic fragments revealed its highest identities and close relationships with Indian strains of CMV of subgroup IB; therefore, virus associated with the mosaic disease of banana was identified as an isolate of CMV of subgroup IB. In the limited reports existing from India, which provided preliminary serological or only coat protein-based identification of CMV infecting banana but the comprehensive studies were lacking. In the present communication, we present a detailed biological, serological and molecular characterization of CMV-Banana for the first time from India.