Biological and Molecular Detection of a virus infecting Wedelia trilobata (Linn.) Hitchc (A Medicinal Herb)

A Potyvirus has been isolated from Wedelia trilobata plants in Aligarh district of state Uttar Pradesh (India). The infected plants were showing mosaic and mottling of leaves as shown below. On host range study virus seem to infect many species of Compositae, Umblifereae, Asteraceae, Solanaceae and Euphorbiaceae. The Thermal Inactivation Point (TIP) was between 55-60°C, dilution end point was within 10-4 and Longevity in Vitro (LIV) at 20°C was within 24 hr. The virus was transmitted by Myzus persicae (Sulzer). Cylindrical inclusion bodies were observed in tissue of the infected plants by electron microscopy. The mean length of the flexous particle was 736.5 nm. The virus was successfully purified from infected Wedelia trilobata by differential centrifugation. The purified virus showed the typical UV spectrum of a nucleoprotein with maximum and minimum absorption at 260 nm and 246 nm, respectively. The A260 /A280 ratio was 1.21 ± 0.04. The symptomatic leaves were analyzed through PCR assays with specific primers