title: Virus surveys of Capsicum spp. in the Republic of Benin reveal the prevalence of pepper vein yellows virus and the identification of a previously uncharacterised polerovirus species.
abstract: Surveys were conducted in 2014 and 2015 in Southern and Northern Benin, respectively, to identify the viruses infecting peppers (Capsicum spp.). The samples were screened by ELISA for cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), pepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV), potato virus Y (PVY) and tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). A generic reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) was used to test for the presence of poleroviruses. ELISA tests confirmed the prevalence of all viruses, while the RT-PCR detected pepper vein yellows virus (PeVYV) which is reported for the first time in Benin. A further, divergent polerovirus isolate was detected from a single pepper sample originating from southern Benin. Screening of samples collected from solanaceous plants during virus surveys in Mali (conducted in 2009) also detected this divergent polerovirus isolate in two samples from African eggplants. The complete genome sequence was obtained from the Mali isolate using transcriptome sequencing and by conventional Sanger sequencing of overlapping RT-PCR products. Based on the sequence characteristics of this isolate we propose a new polerovirus species, African eggplant yellowing virus (AeYV).
authors.affiliation: Faculté d'Agronomie, Université de Parakou, 02 B.P., 1003, Parakou, Republic of Benin.
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Afouda
authors.affiliation: University Felix Houphouet Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
authors.forename: Daouda
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kone
authors.affiliation: Faculté d'Agronomie, Université de Parakou, 02 B.P., 1003, Parakou, Republic of Benin.
authors.forename: Valerien
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zinsou
authors.affiliation: Faculté d'Agronomie, Université de Parakou, 02 B.P., 1003, Parakou, Republic of Benin.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dossou
authors.affiliation: The World Vegetable Center, PO Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan, 74199, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kenyon
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstrasse 7B, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstrasse 7B, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany. dennis.knierim@dsmz.de.|The World Vegetable Center, PO Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan, 74199, Taiwan. dennis.knierim@dsmz.de.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3614-8635
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Knierim
mesh_terms: D001541:Benin; D002212:Capsicum / Q000821:virology*; D017799:Cucumovirus / Q000235:genetics; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D016679:Genome, Viral; D052679:Luteoviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017800:Potyvirus / Q000235:genetics; D012367:RNA, Viral; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral