Monday, November 24, 2008

THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF CUCURBIT VIRUSES ON PUMPKIN

THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF CUCURBIT VIRUSES ON PUMPKIN

Mohd Hefni Rusli and Zakaria Sidek., 2003

ABSTRACT


A study on the epidemiology of cucurbit viruses was conducted in STESEN MARDI, Jalan Kebun, Klang. Pumpkin (Cucubita maxima) hybrid squash cultivar Furasato was used in this study. The plants were maintained under normal practice for pumpkin cultivation (weeding, fertilizer applications, insecticide and fungicide spraying). The two cucurbit viruses studied were Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV).

Samples of pumpkin plants leaves were collected based on the appearance of mosaic symptom, three weeks after seeds germination. Sample of weeds from the surrounding area were also collected for identification as an alternate host for the viruses. Double Antibody Sandwich – Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (DAS – ELISA) was used to detect for the presence of viruses in all samples.

From the data that were collected the maximum plants infected by CMV was attained by the 9th week and the maximum plants infected by the ZYMV were at the 8th week. The disease progress for the CMV was lower than ZYMV. Presence of the two viruses was detected in the samples of weed collection. For the weeded plot areas the appearance of Aulocophora sp. was abundant. The numbers of samples with the mosaic symptoms increased week by week.

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