Detection and Molecular Characterization of Tobacco mild green mosaic virus Isolates Infecting Peppers in Turkey

In this study, Tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV) infection was investigated in pepper crops from two regions having high economical importance in Turkey. A total of 397 leaf and fruit samples showing mosaic, yellowing, mottling, and pitting symptoms were collected to test by double antibody sandwich ELISA (DASELISA) using polyclonal antiserum. DAS-ELISA results indicated that 97 out of all tested samples (24.4%) were found to be infected with TMGMV. Samples resulting positive for TMGMV infection were used to amplify the virus coat protein (CP) gene sequences with specific primers by RT-PCR for further molecular characterization of the virus isolates. A comparison of the CP sequences of the virus isolates revealed that the identity of nucleotides ranged between 97.2 and 100%, and the amino acid similarity ranged between 96.8 and 100% among themselves. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of TMGMV infection in Capsicum annuum in Turkey.