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Monitoring the distribution of banana bunchy top virus in South Africa: a country-wide survey

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Abstract

Banana bunchy top disease is the most devastating viral disease of bananas worldwide and is caused by banana bunchy top virus (BBTV). The disease is spread by the banana aphid Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and through infected propagation material. In 2016, the virus was detected for the first time in an isolated area in the South Coast region of KwaZulu-Natal Province (KZN), South Africa. The aim of this study was to conduct surveys across all banana-producing regions in South Africa, viz. KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces. Over 1700 plant and aphid samples were collected from commercial farms and rural households in the three provinces, and more-intense sampling was done in the affected KZN region. A BBTV-specific PCR targeting DNA-R (encoding the master replication initiation protein, M-Rep) was used to detect virus-infected samples, and amplicons of the expected size were sequenced. Comparative phylogenetic analysis showed that the South African BBTV isolates clustered within the Pacific Indian Oceans genomic group, which includes isolates from India and other regions in Africa, with a bootstrap value of 94%. To date, the virus has been identified only in the South Coast region of KwaZulu-Natal Province. Intense management strategies, including scouting, removal of infected plants, and control of aphids, have been implemented in areas where positive samples were identified to minimize the spread of the virus.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information file.

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Acknowledgements

Gratitude is extended to Dr. Jacques Ibaba and Dr. Elliosha Hajari for valuable inputs to the manuscript. A special thank you to the Department of Agriculture officials at the national (DALRRD) and provincial (DARD) level: Andrew Ntlhane, Alex Sebapu, Avhafarai Ramuntshi, Elvis Mphahlele, Nhlanzeko Msomi, Nonhlanhla Sibisi, Vella Gumede, and Gabisile Mthethwa for logistical support and resources. The authors also wish to thank Karen de Jager (ARC-TSC) for her unwavering support in sample collection, Morgan Brand, who assisted with the mapping of the disease, as well as the banana growers for allowing access to their farms.

Funding

The authors would like to thank the National Research Fund (grant number 105881) for funding the project, and the Agricultural Research Council-Postgraduate Development Programme and the Lewis Foundation (GreenMatter NPC) for funding SPF Ximba’s tuition.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crop Protection Division, Agricultural Research Council-Tropical and Subtropical Crops (ARC-TSC), Mbombela, South Africa

    S. P. F. Ximba & A. E. C. Jooste

  2. Discipline of Plant Pathology, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

    S. P. F. Ximba & A. Gubba

  3. Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development, Margaret Mncadi Avenue, Durban, South Africa

    J. Tshabalala

Authors
  1. S. P. F. Ximba
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  2. J. Tshabalala
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  3. A. Gubba
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  4. A. E. C. Jooste
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Contributions

Conceptualization: AEC Jooste. Methodology: AEC Jooste and SPF Ximba. Formal analysis and investigation: SPF Ximba. Writing—original draft preparation: SPF Ximba. Writing – review and editing: AEC Jooste and A Gubba. Funding acquisition: AEC Jooste and SPF Ximba. Resources: J Tshabalala and AEC Jooste. Supervision: AEC Jooste and A Gubba. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. E. C. Jooste.

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Handling Editor: Elvira Fiallo-Olivé.

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The nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the GenBank database under the accession numbers MT023045, MT023046, MT023047, MT023048, MT023049, MT023050, MT023051, MT023052, MT023053, MT023054, MT023055, MT023056, MT023057, and MT023058.

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Ximba, S.P.F., Tshabalala, J., Gubba, A. et al. Monitoring the distribution of banana bunchy top virus in South Africa: a country-wide survey. Arch Virol 167, 1433–1441 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-022-05451-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-022-05451-5

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