Viruses infecting different Mediterranean genotypes of Ficus carica and their distribution in different plant organs.

Abstract

Seven Mediterranean Ficus carica genotypes, i.e. cv. Palazzo, Severoni precoce, Bianca, Pilusedda, Dottato bianco, Bifara and Zidi, were screened for the presence of seven fig-infecting viruses associated with fig mosaic disease (FMD) in order to explore their distribution in different plant organs (leaf, bud and syconium) that will be utilized as a plant source material in different sanitation techniques. RT-PCR assays conducted on reverse-transcribed TNA extracted from leaves, apical buds and syconia (1.5-2cm) of each genotype for the presence of Fig leaf mottle-associated virus 1 (FLMaV-1), Fig mild mottling-associated virus (FMMaV), Fig mosaic virus (FMV), Fig latent virus 1 (FLV-1), Fig Badnavirus1 (FBV-1) and Fig fleck-associated virus (FFkaV) showed that the infection rates in tested cultivars were 72.2% for FBV, followed by FFkaV (27.4%), FLMaV-1 (18,7%) and FMV (11.1%); whereas FMMaV and FLV-1 were absent. Virus distribution within the different explants showed that FBV1 was the most prevalent in all explants with infection rates ranging between 50% and 83%, whereas FFkaV was mostly concentrated in syconia (39%) and to a lesser extent in buds (32%) and leaves (10%). The highest infection with FLMaV-1 was found in syconia (50%), where, as buds and leaves, showed a mild level of infection (25%). FMV was present in 25% and 8% of tested buds and leaves, respectively, whereas it was absent in syconia