I. Mraz et al., DETECTION OF STRAWBERRY VEIN BANDING VIRUS BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION AND DOT-BLOT HYBRIDIZATION, Acta virologica, 41(4), 1997, pp. 241-242
Strawberry vein banding virus (SVBV) is one of seventeen members of th
e family Caulimoviridae. Natural infection with the virus is known in
Fragaria species only. Infections caused by SVBV are often symptomless
(I), but their significance increases in mixed infections with strawb
erry crinkle or strawberry latent C Viruses (2,3). This virus has been
originally found on strawberries in USA and firstly described by Fraz
ier(4), but it is probably world-wide distributed by planting or breed
ing materials. SVBV has been observed on cultivated strawberries in No
rth America, Australia, Brazil, Japan (5) and recently in Europe (6, 7
). The concentration of SVBV in infected plants is usually very low. I
ts detection by ELISA is impossible because of lack of specific antibo
dies. Evidence of the caulimovirus nature of SVBV has been confirmed b
y its circular dsDNA genome, shape and size of viral particles (8), pr
esence of cytoplasmic inclusion bodies typical for caulimoviruses, and
distant serological relationship with cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV!
9). Tn this paper we present detection of SVBV by combination of two
detection methods - polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and dot blot hybri
dization with a non-radioactive probe.