J Gen Plant Pathol (2011) 77:72–74
DOI 10.1007/s10327-010-0285-7
DISEASE NOTE
First occurrence of Sugarcane streak mosaic virus infecting
sugarcane in Indonesia
Tri Asmira Damayanti • Lilik Koesmihartono Putra
Received: 2 June 2010 / Accepted: 19 October 2010 / Published online: 16 November 2010
Ó The Phytopathological Society of Japan and Springer 2010
Abstract On plants at 59 sugarcane plantations in Central
and East Java, Indonesia, we found virus-like symptoms
such as streak mosaic. The virus was transmitted
mechanically and was sett-borne. The nucleotide sequence
of the coat protein gene had the highest identity with that of
Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV) isolate Pakistani.
We tentatively designate this isolate as SCSMV-Idn
(Indonesia).
Keywords Sugarcane  Sugarcane streak mosaic virus 
Indonesia
Sugarcane is one of the important commercial crops in the
world as a raw material to produce sugar. Viruses including
Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) have become serious
problems in many sugarcane-producing countries. Three
strains of SCMV, i.e., A, B and E, had been reported to
infect sugarcane in Indonesia (Gillaspie et al. 1986). Until
recently, there have been no other reports of any new
strains of SCMV or new viruses infecting sugarcane.
However, in our field survey in 2007, mosaic symptoms
similar to the streak mosaic that was previously reported in
The nucleotide sequence reported in this paper is available in the
DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under the accession number
AB563503.
T. A. Damayanti (&)
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor
Agricultural University (IPB), Jl. Kamper, Darmaga, Bogor,
West Java 16680, Indonesia
e-mail: triadys@yahoo.com; triadys@ipb.ac.id
L. K. Putra
Indonesia Sugar Research Institute (ISRI), Jl. Pahlawan No. 25,
Pasuruan, East Java 67126, Indonesia
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other countries were frequently observed in 59 sugarcane
plantations in Central and East Java. The typical symptoms
of Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV) are similar to
those caused by SCMV. The symptoms were more pro-
nounced on young leaves (Fig. 1a), and PS 864 variety was
predominantly affected with from 1 to 62% of the plants
having symptoms.
SCSMV, a virus that causes streak mosaic of sugarcane,
was first reported by Hall et al. (1998) and has been found
in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Vietnam and
Thailand (Chatenet et al. 2005; Hema et al. 1999). Based
on phylogenetic analyses, Rabenstein et al. (2002) and
Hema et al. (2002) considered that SCSMV is not in the
genus Tritimovirus, but should be placed in a new genus in
Potyviridae. In more recent reports, the new genus Sus-
movirus was proposed for the virus (Viswanathan et al.
2008; Xu et al. 2010).
Since we failed to find a local lesion host to isolate the
virus in preliminary studies, we first tested the samples
serologically and by RT-PCR using specific primers for the
coat protein (CP) gene of SCMV. Serological tests of
infected sap against SCMV antisera (AS-0166-DSMZ,
German Resource Center for Biological Material, Braun-
schweig, Germany) were negative, and no DNA fragment
was amplified in the RT-PCR using the primers specific to
the CP gene of SCMV (data not shown). These two tests
suggested that SCMV is not a possible cause of the virus-
like symptoms.
Using transmission electron microscopy (JEM 1010
JEOL, Tokyo, Japan), we observed filamentous Potyviri-
dae-like particles ca. 800 nm long (Fig. 1b). The purified
virus produced a band of ca. 40 kDa, similar in size to that
reported for SCSMV by Hema et al. (1999, 2003) (data not
shown). Diseased leaf samples from a total of 59 planta-
tions in six districts in Java (Sragen, Pekalongan,
J Gen Plant Pathol (2011) 77:72–74
Fig. 1 a Streak mosaic on sugarcane leaves on PS 864 variety infected with Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV)-Idn in a field.
b Transmission electron micrograph of purified virus particles of SCSMV-Idn negatively stained with 2% uranyl acetate. Bar 100 nm
Yogjakarta in Central Java; Malang, Sidoarjo, Pasuruan in
East Java) were divided into composite samples repre-
senting the different areas in Java.
To confirm these results, reverse transcription poly-
merase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification and
sequencing analysis of partial SCSMV coat protein gene
was carried out by using forward primer SCSMV cpF (50 -
GTGGGTTCAGTTCTCGGTTC-30 ) (in this study) and
reverse primer SCSMV-AP30 (50 -TTTTTTCCTCCTCA
CGGGGCAGGTTGATTG-30 ) (Hema et al. 2003) were
designed to amplify the partial CP and the 30 -terminal of
the gene. Total RNA was extracted from the symptomatic
leaves according to the method described by Suehiro et al.
(2005). The full-length nucleotide of the 30 -proximal
region of the SCSMV genome was sequenced with a PCR
using forward primer SCSMV-H801F (50 -CGACA
AGGTCACAGCTCTCTATCTCACAG-30 ) (in this study)
and reverse primer SCSMV-AP30 . A 1.2-kbp DNA frag-
ment was amplified containing a partial NIb gene, the CP
gene and the 30 -untranslated region (UTR) of SCSMV from
Pasuruan, East Java. The gel-purified DNA was directly
subjected to nucleotide sequencing with an ABI 310 DNA
sequencer (Applied Biosystem, Foster City, CA, USA).
Additional appropriate primers were designed to sequence
the entire CP gene and the 30 UTR. The nucleotide
sequence of the CP gene was aligned with the other Poa-
ceae-infecting members in the Potyviridae family, using
the program CLUSTAL W (Thompson et al. 1994) (Bio-
Edit version 7.05; http://www.mbio.ncsu.edu/BioEdit/
bioedit.html). As a result, the 0.5-kbp fragments were
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amplified from all symptomatic leaves obtained from the
fields. Nucleotide sequencing data successfully confirmed
the Sugarcane streak mosaic virus was associated with
streak mosaic of sugarcane in Indonesia, so that we have
designated the isolate as SCSMV-Idn (Indonesia). The
nucleotide sequence had 98.0–100.0% identity with each
other. The nucleotide sequence of the entire CP gene had
highest identity with that of SCSMV isolate Pakistani
(U75456) (Hall et al. 1998) (92% identity for CP nucleo-
tide sequences, 97.5% identity for CP amino acid sequen-
ces and 98.4% identity for the 30 UTR nucleotide
sequences). The identities of CP nucleotide, CP amino
acid, and 30 UTR nucleotide sequences relative to those of
the other four isolates were 84.9–85, 92.6–94.0 and
95.2–95.7%, respectively (Table 1), while the identities to
other Poaceae-infecting members in the Potyviridae family
were quite low.
The results of biological assays revealed that the virus
was transmitted mechanically by either rub-inoculation or
via knife cut and setts (vegetative seed pieces). Further-
more, in host range tests, the virus systemically infects
three species of Poaceae (Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays, and
weed Dactylactonium aegypticum), while it did not infect
20 other species belonging to seven families (data not
shown). No local lesions formed on inoculated leaves of
any plant species tested.
In recent reports, SCSMV was found in more than 50%
of the sugarcane plantations in Java (ISRI, 2010), and on
sugarcane var. PS 864, when 50% of the plants are dis-
eased, sugar yield can be reduced up to 22% (Asnawi
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Acknowledgments This research was funded by Indonesian Min- member of a novel genus in the family Potyviridae. Virus Genes
istry of Agriculture through collaboration research program KKP3T 40:432–439
with contract No. 1545, 759, 640/LB.620/I.1/5/2007-2009 to TAD.
The authors thank Dr. Kazuyuki Mise for critically reading this
manuscript and Mr. Edi Supardi and Mr. Edi Sanyoto for excellent
support during the research.

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