Información primaria de la presencia del género Tospovirus en Cuba

surveys were made on plantations of tobacco, vegetables, ornamental and fruit trees in different municipalities of some cuban provinces during the years 2003-2009, with the objective of determining the presence and the extent of a viral etiology disease characterized by symptoms similar to those caused by the genus tospovirus, because several species of tospoviruses are included in cuban republic quarantining pest official list. the diagnostic techniques applied on collected samples were mechanical inoculation to indicator plants, electron microscopic examinations of tissue sections and transmission assays with trips. symptoms of yellows, necrotic spots, bronzing, severe necrosis, wilting and sometimes plants death on tobacco, tomato, pepper, papaya and ornamental, were reproduced in these same host by mechanical inoculation. the indicator plants of nicotiana glutinosa l. and chenopodium quinoa willd., reacted with local necrotic lesions, whereas in nicotiana tabacum l. var. criollo, a severe necrosis were observed. the trips frankliniella schultzei tryborn transmitted this virus efficiently. membrane-bounded tospovirus-like particles of 85-100 nm in diameter, within endoplasmic reticulum cisternae were consistently found in infected tissues. all these information indicate that the disease observed in the survey area was viral in nature and caused by one or more tospoviruses. this is the first report of tospovirus presence in cuba. addition works are under way to identify which species of tospoviruses are present.