First molecular characterization of pepper severe mottle virus infecting chili pepper crops in Colombia

A potyvirus infecting chili pepper (Capsicum spp) crops has been characterized. The complete coat protein (CP) gene was obtained. Pairwise comparisons showed that the CP shares 82.8% nucleotide sequence identity and 83.5% amino acid identity with pepper severe mottle virus - PepSMoV (KT896752), a putative potyvirus previously found in pepper crops in Venezuela. These results suggest that this isolate found infecting chili crops in Colombia belongs to Pepper severe mottle virus (PepSMoV) species. To confirm the presence of PepSMoV in three varieties of chili pepper leaf samples collected in Colombia, specific primers were designed. Mechanical inoculation assays were successful and PepSMoV was transmitted to chili pepper plants, which developed severe mosaic symptoms and leaf deformation. To our knowledge this is the first report of the molecular and biological characterization PepSMoV which affects pepper crops in Colombia.