First Report of Potato yellowing virus (Genus Ilarvirus) in Solanum phureja from Ecuador

A bacilliform virus, named Potato yellowing virus (PYV), causing chlorosis of leaves was reported in 1992 in potato (Solanum tuberosum) fields in Peru (1) and symptomless wild potatoes (S. fernandezianum) in Chile (4). PYV is reported as an alfamo-like virus (1) (family Bromoviridae) but no sequence information is available for this virus, making its taxonomic position inside the Bromoviridae uncertain (currently this family is organized into five genera: Alfamovirus, Bromovirus, Cucumovirus, Ilarvirus, and Oleavirus). Herein we report the presence of PYV in native potatoes (Solanum phureja) collected from Ecuador where the crop constitutes an important source of income in rural communities. Forty accessions of S. phureja collected in Ecuador in June 1986 and maintained in vitro at the International Potato Center (CIP) germplasm bank were analyzed by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA with antiserum raised against a Peruvian isolate of PYV (1). PYV was detected in six accessions (15% of the material) co...