Development of a protocol for the elimination of Cyrtanthus elatus virus-A from Narcissus tazetta by in vitro chemotherapy in combination with electrotherapy

• Published in: Journal of virological methods Vol. 300; p. 114368
• Main Authors: Raj, Rashmi, Kaur, Charanjeet, Agrawal, Lalit, Kumar, Susheel, Chauhan, P.S., Raj, S.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.02.2022
• Subjects: Chemotherapy; Cyrtanthus elatus virusA; Electrotherapy; Narcissus; Virus elimination; NDV; Virus elimination; Chemotherapy; CyEVA; Cyrtanthus elatus virusA; Electrotherapy; NMV; NWSV; NYSV; NCLV; Narcissus; NLSYV
• ISSN: 0166-0934; 1879-0984
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114368

•Elimination of Cyrtanthus elatus virus-A from Narcissus tazetta bulblets using in vitro chemotherapy (30−50 mg/L ribavirin for 30 days) and electrotherapy (10−30 mA electric current for 20 min), either individually or in combination, had been investigated.•Individually, chemotherapy (30 mg/L ribavirin) and electrotherapy (20 mA) treatments produced 46 % (14/30) and 40 % (12/30) of virus-free plants, respectively.•Combining in vitro chemotherapy (30 mg/L ribavirin) and electrotherapy (20 mA) produced the highest number 50 % (15/30) of virus-free narcissus plants. Narcissus (Narcissus tazetta) is a bulbous ornamental plant propagated vegetatively from bulbs. The Cyrtanthus elatus virus-A (CyEV-A) had been reported to cause a severe mosaic and yellow stripe disease in narcissus. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a protocol for the elimination of CyEV-A from infected bulblets by in vitro chemotherapy (30−50 mg/L ribavirin for 30 days) and electrotherapy (10−30 mA for 20 min), individually and in combination, to produce virus-free plants. The regenerated plants obtained from these treatments were screened for the absence of the CyEV-A by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assays using a set of degenerate primers specific for a potyvirus coat protein gene. The results showed that in vitro chemotherapy (30 mg/L ribavirin for 30 days) alone produced 46.0 % (14/30) of virus-free plants, while electrotherapy (20 mA for 20 min) alone produced 40.0 % (12/30) of virus-free plants. In comparison, a combination of chemotherapy (30 mg/L ribavirin for 30 days) and electrotherapy (20 mA for 20 min) produced 50.0 % (15/30) of virus-free plants. The virus-free plants obtained from this combination treatment exhibited better growth and produced more bulbs compared to the other treatments and control. The protocol may be used for the control of the virus disease in narcissus.