Institut für Züchtungsforschung an gartenbaulichen Kulturen
CMV was first detected on asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) in Germany (Weissenfels and Schmelzer, 1976) and often occurs in a mixed infection with AV1 (Rabenstein et al, 2007; Bandte et al, 2008; Nothnagel et al. 2011). Visual symptoms have not yet been described on asparagus and no data are available on its economic significance.Cucumber mosaic virus is an RNA virus and belongs to the genus Cucumovirus in the family Bromoviridae. It is distributed worldwide and is able to infect more than 1,200 species from over 8 plant families (Palukaitis and Garcia- Arenal 2003). Based on their virulence in specific plant species and cultivars, CMV isolates are divided into two differentiating pathotypes (Lin et al. 2003; Diveki et al. 2004; Lee et al. 2009). To date, the complete genome sequences of 249 CMV isolates have been published in the NIH database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/datasets/genome/?taxon=12305), but none of these isolates were obtained from asparagus. Germany-wide monitoring, including phylogenetic analyses of the virus isolates, is intended to investigate the spread and potential infection pathways of the virus beyond crop species boundaries.Another aim is to evaluate the natural infection pathways in asparagus. Non-persistent transmission via aphids and mechanical transmission of CMV have already been demonstrated (Kegler et al., 1991; Phillips and Brunt, 1985). So far, there is no information on possible seed or pollen transmissibility in asparagus, although CMV has been shown to be seed-borne in more than 20 species (Gallitelli, 2000). This information should be used to establish an efficient resistance test to identify resistance.
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity
