Serological and molecular characterization of Syrian <em>Tomato spotted wilt virus</em> isolates

Abstract

Thirty four Syrian isolates of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) collected from tomato and pepper were tested against five specific monoclonal antibodies using TAS-ELISA. The isolates were in two serogroups. Fourteen tomato and sixteen pepper isolates were similar in their reaction with MAb-2, MAb-4, MAb-5 and MAb-6, but did not react with MAb-7 (Serogroup 1). Meanwhile, four isolates collected from pepper reacted with all the MAbs used (Serogroup 2). The expected 620 bp DNA fragment was obtained by RT-PCR from six samples using a specific primer pair designed to amplify the nucleocapsid protein (NP) gene of TSWV. The PCR products were sequenced and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Sequence analysis revealed that the Syrian TSWV isolates were very similar at the nucleotide (97.74 to 99.84% identity) and amino acid (96.17 to 99.03% identity) sequences levels. The phylogenetic tree showed high similarity of Syrian TSWV isolates with many other representative isolates from different countries.

Keywords

• monoclonal antibodies
• RT-PCR