FIELD SURVEY AND MOLECULAR DETECTION OF VIRUSES ASSOCIATED WITH SQUASH MOSAIC DISEASE IN ERBIL PROVENCE

Abstract

During August to November, 2021, symptoms of mosaic were observed in various squash (Cucurbite pepo) plants at different locations in Erbil province.The survey showed mosaic diseases incidence in different squash varieties ranged 0% to 54.75%. Disease symptoms varied from malformation and distortion of leaves and fruits, vein clearing, vein banding, blistering, and shoestring.  The highest infection rate was recorded in Grdasheer while the lowest was observed in Murtka on Muzaffar variety.RT-PCR confirmed the association of Water melon mosaic virus (WMV) and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) associated with the symptomatic plants.

Keywords

• zymv
• rt pcr
• wmv
• squash viruses