Incidence of Citrus vein enation virus in Citrus spp. and Poncirus trifoliata in Korea

Abstract

Citrus vein enation virus (CVEV), which was regulated as a quarantine virus in Korea, was firstly found on Jeju Island in 2017. In February 2018, a survey was carried out to determine the distribution of CVEV in the main commercial areas growing Citrus spp. and Poncirus trifoliata. The survey was performed at 203 groves in the southern Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island. CVEV infection was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction detection and sequencing. The coat protein (CP) gene sequences obtained from the CVEV-infected samples showed high similarities (more than 98%) to the previously reported CVEV CP sequences. In summary, CVEV was detected in 136 groves (67%), in which 85.4% of Citrus junos and 77.8% of Citrus unshiu were infected by CVEV. In Jeju Island, the infection rate of CVEV was relatively higher (90.6%). Our result revealed that CVEV has spread widely in Citrus and Poncirus in Korea. Based on the result, the Korean quarantine agency decide to exclude CVEV from quarantine in Korea.

Keywords

• citrus vein enation virus
• quarantine pathogen
• survey