Vol. 10, Issue 11 (2021)

Author(s):
G Barkavi, S Harish, S Varanavasiappan and G Karthikeyan

Abstract:
Ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb) is an important cucurbitaceous vegetable crop and is being consumed worldwide because of its nutritive value. Field survey was conducted in the major ridge gourd growing areas of Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu during December 2020. Samples exhibiting virus symptoms like mosaic, mosaic mottling, blistering and puckering of leaves were collected. A total of 10 -15 samples were collected from each field. The samples were inoculated on several systemic and local lesion hosts. The symptoms viz., mosaic, mosaic mottling, blistering, puckering of leaves and stunted growth on systemic hosts especially on different gourds were documented. The chlorotic lesions on N. plumbaginifolia and mosaic symptom on C. amaranticolor were also observed. The inoculated samples were tested for RNA viruses using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method with Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) gene specific and potyvirus universal primers. The results revealed the combined infection of both CMV and potyviruses and the infection of individual viruses were also documented. The severity of disease was evaluated for combined infection and sole infection in ridge gourd. The results revealed that, the combined infection of viruses had a higher severity of disease than single infections.