Emergency measures on capsicum seed against Potato spindle tuber viroid and Pepper chat fruit viroid

 

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Event Reporting

• Emergency Actions

Publication Date

14-12-2016

Last Updated

Dec. 14, 2016, 11:55 p.m.

Short Description

Risk reviews completed by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry indicate that capsicum seed produced in some other countries may carry Pepper chat fruit viroid (PCFVd) and Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd). The Australian capsicum, tomato and potato production industries are put at risk by imports of capsicum seed that may be carrying the viroids. Emergency phytosanitary measures for imports of capsicum seed into Australia are therefore being introduced due to the quarantine risks presented by PCFVd and PSTVd.

Capsicum seed imports or parent plants will be required to pass laboratory tests for PCFVd and PSTVd. A system that has been implemented for emergency phytosanitary measures on tomato seed imports will be applied to capsicum seed, with options for off-shore testing and phytosanitary certification or testing in Australia. The emergency measure will enter into force from 18 December 2012.

The viroids have been detected in intercepted tomato seed shipments. PCFVd is known to be transmitted through the seed of infected capsicum (Verhoeven, 2009). Research in other countries suggests that PSTVd incursions in capsicum crops may be due to infection of imported capsicum seed (Lebas et al. 2005) and expert opinion supports this inference (Owens and Verhoeven, 2009). Research done by Australian government authorities indicates that similar viroid incursions in tomato crops occur when infected tomato seed is imported.

Additional information http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/import/icon-icd

References

Lebas, B. S., Clover, G. R., Ochoa-Corona, F. M., Elliott, D. R., Tang, Z., & Alexander, B. J. (2005). Distribution of Potato spindle tuber viroid in New Zealand glasshouse crops of capsicum and tomato. Australasian Plant Pathology, 34(2), 129-133. http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=AP05002.pdf

Owens, R.A. and J.Th.J. Verhoeven. (2009) Potato spindle tuber. The Plant Health Instructor. American Phytopathological Society DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2009-0804-01 http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/lessons/viruses/pages/potatospindletuber.aspx

Verhoeven JTJ, Jansen CCC, Roenhorst JW, Flores R, de la Peña M (2009) Pepper chat fruit viroid: biological and molecular properties of a proposed new species of the genus Pospiviroid. Virus Research 144: 209-214.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2009.05.002

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Website

http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_topiccontent.asp?TopicType=Quarantine+Alert&TopicID=25133