Abstract

Two viruses infecting berryfruit crops, Rubus yellow net virus (RYNV) in Rubus, and a bacilliform virus associated with gooseberry vein banding disease (GVBD) in Ribes, show close similarities to species in the genus Badnavirus. The degenerate badnavirus primers, BADNA2 and BADNAT, were used in PCR to amplify a portion of the genome of each virus. The amplified DNA products were cloned and sequenced and the determined sequences used to design virus-specific primers to detect these viruses in their natural hosts. RYNV was detected specifically by PCR in infected Rubus plants and in raspberry plants affected with veinbanding mosaic disease. The bacilliform virus from Ribes was found to be closely associated with GVBD and is named Gooseberry vein banding associated virus (GVBAV). Further work is necessary to determine if it is the causal agent of GVBD or, if it is involved with other viruses in inducing this disease, but its detection by PCR seems a rapid way of detecting GVBD in plants.