Abstract

A total of 1,207 symptomatic and 2,677 randomly samples were collected from soybean fields throughout Iran during the growing seasons of 2004-2006 and tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using specific antibodies to Tomato yellow fruit ring virus (TYFRV), a newly proposed species in the genus Tospovirus. ELISA results were confirmed by electron microscopy, host range studies, serological analysis, polymerase chain reaction and limited to few affected plants, by sequencing of a 1200 bp DNA fragment corresponding to the N gene of TYFRV. The virus was largely detected in the main soybean growing provinces of Iran with an overall incidence of 6.1%, even if its introduction in Iranian soybean fields seems to be only recent. In this study, Thrips tabaci was identified for the first time as a vector of the virus, but no transmission by soybean seeds was evidenced for the same virus. TYFRV was also detected in some weed species and for the first time in Datura metel and D. stramonium, as confirmed by biological and molecular assays.