SURVEY OF CHICKPEA (CICER-ARIETINUM L) FOR CHICKPEA STUNT DISEASE ANDASSOCIATED VIRUSES IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN

Chickpea chlorotic dwarf geminivirus (CCDV) and some luteoviruses were associated with chickpea stunt disease in India and Pakistan. One tho usand eight hundred and four plants with stunt disease symptoms were c ollected and tested with poly- and monoclonal antibodies. Bean leafrol l luteovirus (BLRV)-like luteoviruses and viruses reacting with an ant iserum to a luteovirus isolate from chickpea, tentatively referred to as chickpea luteovirus (CpLV), were involved. Relative prevalence of t he viruses varied among the different chickpea-growing areas. The BLRV -like viruses were of minor importance, while CCDV and CpLV-like virus es were widely distributed. The reaction patterns of the luteoviruses from chickpea with monoclonal antibodies differed from those of some k nown luteoviruses. In addition to CpLV, BLRV, and other luteoviruses, an unidentified, graft-transmissible agent may be involved in the etio logy, which is more complex than reported initially.