Cucumber mosaic virus infecting Eupatorium cannabinum: Effect on the quality of the essential oil

• Published in: Journal of plant pathology 2004-12, Vol.86 (4), p.310-310
• Main Authors: Bellardi, M G, Liberatore, S, Benni, A, Piccaglia, R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asteraceae; Cucumber mosaic virus; Eupatorium cannabinum
• ISSN: 1125-4653

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) has been found for the first time in wild Eupatorium cannabinum L. (Asteraceae) during a survey carried out in Campania (southern Italy) in 1988-1989. In summer 2003, CMV was detected by PAS-ELISA in E. cannabinum plants in the Botanical Garden of the University of Bologna (northern Italy). Infected plants showed yellow mosaic and stunting. Thin sections of symptomatic leaf fragments showed accumulations of virus particles in the cytoplasm and in a few apparently unaltered chloroplasts. Seeds from naturally infected E. cannabinum plants were tested for CMV transmission through seed; the virus was recovered from 0,5% of the seedlings following mechanical inoculation to herbaceous hosts. Considering that E. cannabinum has shown diverse biological activities manifested by the different components of its essential oil, used for many medicinal and pharmaceutical applications, comparative research concerning the effect of viral infection in the qualities as well as the quantities of its constituents was performed. Essential oils, obtained by steam distillation, from healthy and CMV-infected dry material (leaves and stems) were characterized by a GC-MS. The oils, made up mainly of sesquiterpene compounds, showed relevant quantitative differences between healthy and CMV-infected materials as occurred in the infected leaves which evidenced higher amounts of spatulenol and caryophyllene oxide and lower contents of beta -gurjonene and alpha -farnesene than the healthy ones.