OCCURRENCE OF MULBERRY MOSAIC VIRUS IN EGYPT

E.M. MAREI¹, R.M. ELBAZ²*, I. ELMAGHRABY³, A. SHARAF^4
1Microbiology & Genetic Eng. Dep., Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra, Cairo, 11241, Egypt.
²Botany and Microbiology Dep., Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Ain-Helwan, Cairo, 11970, Egypt.
³Central Lab. of Organic Agriculture, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, 12619, Egypt.
⁴Microbiology & Genetic Eng. Dep., Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra, Cairo, 11241, Egypt.
* Corresponding Author : d.reham@hotmail.com

Received : 14-09-2014     Accepted : 27-11-2014     Published : 30-12-2014
Volume : 6     Issue : 2       Pages : 575 - 580
Int J Microbiol Res 6.2 (2014):575-580

Keywords : Mulberry mosaic virus, Transmission electron microscope, Cytopathic effect, Geminiviridae, Isozyme polymorphism
Conflict of Interest : Author declares no conflicts of interest.

Mosaic, yellowing and malformation symptoms were detected on leaves of mulberry plants (Morus spp. L.), grown in the Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, during the spring of 2012. Viral assay experiment which carried out on sensitive host (Phaseolus vulgaris), resulted in appearance of virus-like symptom. The detected virus was found to have a narrow host range. Electron microscopy studies of ultrathin sections of healthy and infected mulberry leaves revealed that the detected virus affected the plant cell structure of the diseased plants. The viral particles were icosahedral in symmetry and double capsid of 57 nm in diameter and the diameter of the inner core was found to be 42 nm. The isolated mulberry mosaic virus is a tentative member of the Genus Begomovirus in the Family Geminiviridae. Isozyme polymorphism in the healthy and infected plants was studied. Differences were detected in the ideogram of peroxidase, α-esterase and β-esterase isozymes of the infected plants relative to that of the healthy plants. According to the available literature, this may be the first report of mulberry mosaic virus in Egypt.