Bud necrosis disease- A detailed study on host range, serodiagnosis and varietal evaluation

In India, tospoviruses are arising as serious pathogens and affecting the cultivation of variety of crops. Five Tospovirus species, viz., Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) (Reddy et al., 1992) and Groundnut yellow spot virus (GYSV) (Satyanarayana et al., 1998) from groundnut, Watermelon bud necrosis virus (WBNV) from watermelon (Singh and Krishnareddy, 1996), Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) from onion (Ravi et al., 2005) and Capsicum chlorosis virus (CaCV) from tomato (Kunkalikar et al., 2007) have been identified on the basis of host range, vector specificity, serological properties and amino acid sequence identity of NP gene. Among them bud necrosis disease has emerged as a serious threat to watermelon and groundnut cultivation in India.