First Report of Bean common mosaic necrotic virus Infecting Bean Plants in Aguascalientes and Veracruz, Mexico.

Bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV) is a pathogen of Phaseolus vulgaris L. BCMNV was previously classified in serogroup A (for necrotic strains) of the Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) subgroup; serogroup B included non-necrotic strains of BCMV. Both serogroups are currently classified as two different species in the BCMV subgroup of the Poytvirus genus; strains of either species will produce mosaic symptoms and, in the presence of hypersensitive I gene, necrosis in bean plants (1). Prior to this classification, BCMV was reported in Mexico by the presence of mosaic and necrotic symptoms (2). To investigate the presence of BCMNV in Mexico, samples were collected in two of the main bean producing states. The total extracted RNA was used for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction using primers complementary to the middle portion of the NIa gene (5') and the 3' UTR of the NL3 Michigan isolate (accession number U19287). Two cDNA segments of 2 and 3 kb were obtained from infected plants from the state of Aguascalientes, in the highlands of central Mexico, and from the state of Veracruz, in the lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico, respectively. The cDNAs were cloned and sequenced. Alignment analysis of these sequences with the NL3 strain of BCMNV showed a similarity of 96.4 and 96.7%, respectively. The similarity between the Aguascalientes (accession number AJ01265) and Veracruz isolates was 99.6%, indicating that both are variants of the same species. On the other hand, alignment analysis of these isolates with some published BCMV strain sequences (i.e., accession numbers L15332 and U55315) displayed low similarities of 52.9 and 64.4%, respectively. These comparisons indicate that the Aguascalientes and Veracruz viral isolates belong to the BCMNV species and is the causal agent of mosaic and necrosis observed on the bean plants in those states. References: (1) C. W. Collmer et al. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 9:758, 1996. (2) E. Jimenez-García. SARH. Mexico. D. F. pp: 3-4, 1994.