MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF TOMATO SPOTTED WILT VIRUS IN MONTENEGRO

The presence and distribution of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) on different vegetable, ornamental, tobacco plants and weeds was investigated in the open field and greenhouses in different locations of Montenegro. DAS ELISA was used to identify the virus in 2072 samples collected from 2007 to 2009. TSWV was detected in two samples collected in 2007, none of the samples collected in 2008 and 50 samples collected in 2009. The sensitivity and specificity of four different previously described primer sets for TSWV detection were assessed by RT-PCR. The N gene sequences were compared with those of 20 new isolates from Montenegro, Serbia, Italy and Brazil and 27 others retrieved from the NCBI database. Nucleotide sequences comparison revealed high level of similarity (97-99,9%) between Montenegrin and TSWV isolates from other European countries. Phylogenetic analysis of the N gene revealed seven distinct subgroups, showing that the investigated isolates clustered with those from the same geographic region, with the exception of one Montenegrin (Is-103) and one Italian isolate (Gb-21).