Pepper Mild Mottle Virus, a Tobamovirus Infecting Pepper Cultivars in Sicily

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Abstract
A tobamovirus named pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV) was isolated from tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)-resistant peppers in Sicily, Italy. It could be distinguished by symptomatology and host range from other tobamoviruses. Infected pepper plants yielded up to 1.3 g of purified virus per kilogram of tissue. The virus formed a single band in rate-zonal density gradient centrifugation in sucrose (10-50%). The UV absorption spectrum had maxima and minima at 260 and 248 nm with ratios Amax/Amin and A260 nm/A280 nm of 1.11 and 1.21, respectively. The specific extinction coefficient was .**GRAPHIC**. = 3.18. From the length-distribution histogram a normal length of 312 nm was determined. Angled layer aggregates were observed in the cytoplasm of infected pepper leaf cells. Antiser to PMMV had homologous titers of 1:2048 and 1:4096. After absorption with 8 heterologous wild strains of TMV, the PMMV antisera still reacted strongly with the homologous virus. No cross reactivity with heterologous strains was observed in the double antibody sandwich form of ELISA, but the indirect ELISA [enzyme linked immunosorbent assay] methods showed cross reactions between PMMV and other tobamoviruses. The amino acid composition indicated that PMMV is distinct from all other well-established tobamovirus species.