Incidence of Cucumber Mosaic Virus in three different Cucurbitaceous Plants in The Coastal Savannah Agroecological Zone of Ghana Using a Serological Approach

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), and pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) are among the most economically important cucurbits. This study aimed to evaluate the response of these cucurbits to infection with Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). The experiment was conducted in a Randomized Complete Block Design for both field and screen house research. The three cucurbits, under field conditions, were planted as single lines within each block and replicated three times whereas under screen house conditions, three different cucurbits were inoculated with Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). The experimental plants were inoculated with sap from ELISA-confirmed CMV-infected plants. All the three cucurbits under field conditions succumbed to the effect of the virus and expressed varying symptoms including chlorosis, mosaic, leaf puckering and necrosis with a 100% incidence in cucumber. Chlorophyll content, plant height and leaf area were found to have decreased in virus-infected plants. In the screen house experiment, virus-infected plants of each variety had a significantly reduced plant height and decreased chlorophyll content, with watermelon being the most severely affected with plant height of 33.43cm and chlorophyll content of 3.23μmol/m2 at week 4. ELISA test detected Cucumber mosaic virus in all infected plants of the three cucurbits. The results of this study could serve as a guide for the formulation of effective measures for the management of Cucumber mosaic virus disease.