PARTIAL SEQUENCE AND DIAGNOSTIC METHOD BY RT-PCR OF THE PAPAYA MELEIRA VIRUS.

摘要

The present invention comprises a diagnostic method by RT-PCR of the meleira papaya virus (PMeV), a cDNA sequence of the virus 1154 pb, six oligonucleotides specific for the diagnosis by RT-PCR, a molecular diagnostic kit and two positive controls that consist of fragments of cDNA of 1118 pb and 504 pb from the Mexican and Brazilian isolated respectively, cloned in the pGEMT-easy vector. The method of the present invention allows the PMeV to be detected using RNA extracted from a) fruit latex and b) plants tissue, before the fruits production. This method allows isolates from Mexico and Brazil virus to be detected. The invention is useful for: 1) the papaya producers, upon determining whether the seed or seedling to be used for establishing a new crop is polluted or if a crop is infected, before the production of the fruits, thus reducing the investment and profit losses. The diagnosis described in the present invention is also useful for: 2) the papaya importing countries that had es tablished a quarantine against PMeV and 3) for the producer companies of papaya seeds and seedlings.