Seedborne transmission of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus and Cucumber mosaic virus in Styrian Hulless group of Cucurbita pepo

A total of 62 seed lots originating from hulless Pumpkin fruit exhibiting typical symptoms of ZYMV infection were tested in insect-free greenhouses in three consecutive years. Of those, 25 seed lots showed seedborne virus transmission that ranged from 0.29 to 15.34% of the seeds. In total 19997 seeds were sowed, 16039 plants were monitored and 225 plants were seedborne virus infected. Of those, 166 had ZYMV and 59 had mixed infection of ZYMV and CMV as identified by ELISA serological tests, by indicator plants or by RT-PCR. The average rate of seedborne transmission of ZYMV was 1.4%. Coat protein gene of CMV and ZYMV were characterized and compared.