First report of Citrus leprosis virus on citrus in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

The citrus crop is rapidly expanding in the Province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Citrus, mostly planted by small growers, currently comprises approximately 15,000 ha. Sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis) and mandarins (C. reticulate) are the main citrus-types grown primarily for internal consumption. Recently, there has been an increase in incidence of leprosis-like symptoms (round to elliptic lesions on the leaves, chlorotic to necrotic lesions in young twigs, and depressed small lesions on the fruits). These symptoms were associated with infestations by the tenuipalpid mite Brevipalpus sp. To verify if Citrus leprosis virus was the causal agent of the observed symptoms, leaf and fruit samples (mostly from Valencia sweet orange) were collected from commercial groves in El Torno, 32 km south of Santa Cruz, and Yapacani and Colonia San Juan, 130 km northwest of Santa Cruz. Small fragments of these samples were placed immediately in a mixture of glutaraldehyde and paraformaldehyde in cacodylate buffer a...