Association of a tospovirus with sunflower necrosis disease

Association of a tospovirus with necrosis disease-affected sunflower sample s collected from Bangalore, Dharwad and Hyderabad was established on the ba sis of immuno- and bio-diagnosis. The virus induces necrosis on leaves foll owed by necrosis on petioles, stems and floral calyx, The virus was mechani cally transmitted to cowpea, a diagnostic assay host for tospovirus. The su nflower tospovirus, tentatively referred to as sunflower necrosis virus (SF NV), showed positive serological relationship with groundnut bud necrosis v irus (GBNV) and watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMV) in direct antigen-coa ted (DAC)-ELISA using polyclonal antisera directed against nucleocapsid pro tein. The exact identity of the virus remains to be determined.