First report of <i>Potato spindle tuber viroid</i> (PSTVd) in <i>Brugmansia</i> spp., <i>Solanum jasminoides, Solanum muricatum</i> and <i>Petunia</i> spp. in the Czech Republic

Following findings of Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) in solanaceous ornamental plants in the Netherlands (Verhoeven et al., 2008) and other European countries a survey of PSTVd was done in the Czech Republic. Samples were collected from gardening establishments and private gardens. A total of 156 samples (52 of Solanum jasminoides, 65 of Brugmansia spp., 9 of S. muricatum and 30 of Petunia×hybrida) were taken from 65 localities. Samples consisted of ten randomly taken leaves per lot or in case of Brugmansia spp. and S. muricatum, of pooled samples of five to ten leaves taken from individual plants. RNA was extracted from leaf tissue using either RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen) or Tri Reagent (Sigma). The samples were tested by real-time RT-PCR using SYBR Green with PSTVd primers (Boonham et al., 2004 and Matoušek et al., 2007) and RT-PCR using PSTVd primers (Levy et al., 1994) that yielded approximately 360 bp long amplicons. The PCR products were sequenced and used for identification. All the sequences obtained were identical to the isolate of PSTVd GenBank Accession No. EF459700. Solanum jasminoides tested positively for PSTVd at most of the sampled localities due to repeated vegetative propagation of infected plants and their subsequent spread throughout the country. Petunia×hybrida tested positively for PSTVd only at two and Brugmansia spp. and S. muricatum at one locality. This is the first report of PSTVd in Brugmansia spp., S. jasminoides, S. muricatum and Petunia×hybrida in the Czech Republic.