Low divergence of banana bract mosaic virus infecting abaca and banana in the Philippines
2012
Pinili, M.S. | Natsuaki, K.T. | Dizon, T.O.
Abaca (Musa textilis Nee) or 'Manila hemp' is indigenous to the Philippines. It is the main source of premier rope fiber and basic material for clothing, pulp and paper industries and fiber components for the automotive industry. Although the country gains monopoly in the world trade contributing 85% of the total abaca fiber production, biological constraints like virus diseases continuously threaten the industry. Bunchy top disease of abaca caused by Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) is the most prevalent and contributes economic losses. The identity of BBTV has been thoroughly characterized serologically and molecularly as closely related but distinct to Abaca bunchy top virus (ABTV). Recently, the authors detected Banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV) which was first reported in the Philippine bananas in many abaca samples showing typical mosaic and even bunchy top virus symptoms by mix infection with BBTV. Five clones representing three abaca cultivars namely: Negro, Tinawagan, Puti and Abuab showed 97-98% nucleotide sequence similarity in the coat protein and 3' UTR regions of BBrMV isolates from banana. Taxonomic relatedness, ecological niche or cultivation and insect vector may affect the high homology of either BBTV or BBrMV from abaca and banana. This is the first report on the characterization of BBrMV infecting abaca cultivars in the Philippines.
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