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Virus Detection and Elimination in Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Through Somatic Embryogenesis

Received: 1 May 2016     Accepted: 11 May 2016     Published: 26 May 2016
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Abstract

Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) is a major pathogen that has seriously constrained cocoa production in West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of cocoa somatic embryogenesis to produce virus-free clonal propagation material both for replanting and to facilitate the safe international exchange of germplasm. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based screening, is employed in this study because of its capacity for CSSV detection prior to the appearance of visual symptoms. Degenerate PCR primers were developed in order to improve the CSSV-strain dependence of earlier tests. The degenerate primers were capable of detecting 37 out of a putative 56 CSSV strains, four more than the sequence specific primers. For tissue culture studies, cocoa staminodes cultures were established from flowers of CSSV-infected cocoa genotypes CL 19/10 strain 1A and Amelonado Plant 2 to produce callus, primary and secondary somatic embryos, with genotype AMAZ 15 used as a virus-free control. PCR-based CSSV detection proved that virus could be detected at callus, primary somatic embryos and secondary somatic embryo stages, indicating that the progress of the virus was progressively impeded. These findings support the use of somatic embryogenesis as a mean of improving CSSV-free clonal propagation of cocoa. Somatic embryogenesis is indeed effective for virus elimination in cocoa and it has been demonstrated to function for a range of cocoa genotypes. This also means that a likely mechanism for the interruption of CSSV movement has been identified.

Published in Journal of Plant Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14
Page(s) 52-57
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Cacao swollen shoot virus, Cocoa, Somatic Embryogenesis, Staminodes, Polymerase Chain Reaction

References
[1] Attafuah, A., Blencowe, J. W. and Brunt, A. A., 1963. Swollen shoot disease of cocoa in Sierra Leone. Tropical Agriculture (Trinidad), 40: 229-232.
[2] Dale, W. T., 1962. Virus diseases. In: Agriculture and Land Use in Ghana (Ed, Wills, J. B.) Oxford University Press, London, pp. 286-316.
[3] Delanoy, M., Salmon, M., and Kummert, J., 2003. Development of real-time PCR for the rapid detection of episomal Banana streak virus (BSV). Plant Disease, 87: 33-38.
[4] Hagen, L. S., Jacquemond, M., Lepingle, A., Lot, H. and Tepfer, M., 1993. Nucleotide sequence and genomic organization of cacao swollen shoot virus. Virology, 196: 619-628.
[5] Legg, J. T., 1982. The Cocoa Swollen Shoot Research Project at the Cocoa Research Intitute, Tafo, Ghana, 1969-1978. Overseas Development Administration, London.
[6] Li, Z., Traore, A., Maximova, S. and Guiltinan, M., 1998. Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from floral explants of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) using thidiazuron. In vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology-Plants, 34: 293-299.
[7] Mangenot, G., Alibert, G. and Basset, A., 1946. Sur les caractères du swollen shoot en Cote-d’lvoir. Review international Botany Application Agriculture Tropical, 283: 13.
[8] Maximova, S. N., Alemanno, L., Young, A., Feffiere, N., Traore, A. and Guiltinan, M. J., 2002. Efficiency, genotopic variability, and cellular origin of primary and secondary somatic embryogenesis of Theobroma cacao L. In vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology-Plant, 38: 252-259.
[9] Muller, E. and Sackey, S., 2005. Molecular variability analysis of five new complete cacao swollen shoot virus genomic sequences. Archives of Virology, 150: 53-66.
[10] Muller, E., Jacquet, E., and Yot, P., 2001. Early detection of cacao swollen shoot virus using polymerase chain reaction. Journal of Virology Methods, 93: 15-22.
[11] Ollenu, L. A. A., 2001. Synthesis: case history of cocoa viruses. Retrieved from http//www.iita.org/info/viology/pdf_files/33-49.pdf.
[12] Partriot, M., Amefia, Y. K., Djiekpor, E. K. and Bakar, K. A., 1978. Le “swollen shoot” du cacaoyer au Togo: inventaire preliminaire et première estimation des partes causes par la maladie. Café cacao The, XXII: 217-228
[13] Quainoo, A. K., 2006. Germplasm conservation of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) and virus elimination through tissue culture. PhD thesis, University of Reading, UK.
[14] Quainoo, A. K., Wetten, A. C. and Allainguillaume, J., 2008. The effectiveness of somatic embryogenesis in eliminating the cocoa swollen shoot virus from infected cocoa trees. Journal of Virological Methods, 149 (1): 91-96.
[15] Steven, W. F., 1936. A new disease of cocoa in the Gold Coast. Gold Coast Farmer, 5 (122): 144.
[16] Thresh, J. M., 1959. The control of cacao swollen shoot disease in Nigeria. Tropical Agriculture (Trinidad) 36: 35-44.
[17] Thresh, J. M., Owusu, G. K., Boamah, A. and Lockwood, G., 1988. Ghanaian cocoa varieties and swollen shoot virus. Crop protection, 7 (4): 219-231.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Rebicca Edward, Andrew Wetten. (2016). Virus Detection and Elimination in Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Through Somatic Embryogenesis. Journal of Plant Sciences, 4(3), 52-57. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14

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    ACS Style

    Rebicca Edward; Andrew Wetten. Virus Detection and Elimination in Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Through Somatic Embryogenesis. J. Plant Sci. 2016, 4(3), 52-57. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14

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    AMA Style

    Rebicca Edward, Andrew Wetten. Virus Detection and Elimination in Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Through Somatic Embryogenesis. J Plant Sci. 2016;4(3):52-57. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14,
      author = {Rebicca Edward and Andrew Wetten},
      title = {Virus Detection and Elimination in Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Through Somatic Embryogenesis},
      journal = {Journal of Plant Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {3},
      pages = {52-57},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jps.20160403.14},
      abstract = {Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) is a major pathogen that has seriously constrained cocoa production in West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of cocoa somatic embryogenesis to produce virus-free clonal propagation material both for replanting and to facilitate the safe international exchange of germplasm. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based screening, is employed in this study because of its capacity for CSSV detection prior to the appearance of visual symptoms. Degenerate PCR primers were developed in order to improve the CSSV-strain dependence of earlier tests. The degenerate primers were capable of detecting 37 out of a putative 56 CSSV strains, four more than the sequence specific primers. For tissue culture studies, cocoa staminodes cultures were established from flowers of CSSV-infected cocoa genotypes CL 19/10 strain 1A and Amelonado Plant 2 to produce callus, primary and secondary somatic embryos, with genotype AMAZ 15 used as a virus-free control. PCR-based CSSV detection proved that virus could be detected at callus, primary somatic embryos and secondary somatic embryo stages, indicating that the progress of the virus was progressively impeded. These findings support the use of somatic embryogenesis as a mean of improving CSSV-free clonal propagation of cocoa. Somatic embryogenesis is indeed effective for virus elimination in cocoa and it has been demonstrated to function for a range of cocoa genotypes. This also means that a likely mechanism for the interruption of CSSV movement has been identified.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    AU  - Rebicca Edward
    AU  - Andrew Wetten
    Y1  - 2016/05/26
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14
    T2  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    JF  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    JO  - Journal of Plant Sciences
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    EP  - 57
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-0731
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20160403.14
    AB  - Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) is a major pathogen that has seriously constrained cocoa production in West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of cocoa somatic embryogenesis to produce virus-free clonal propagation material both for replanting and to facilitate the safe international exchange of germplasm. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based screening, is employed in this study because of its capacity for CSSV detection prior to the appearance of visual symptoms. Degenerate PCR primers were developed in order to improve the CSSV-strain dependence of earlier tests. The degenerate primers were capable of detecting 37 out of a putative 56 CSSV strains, four more than the sequence specific primers. For tissue culture studies, cocoa staminodes cultures were established from flowers of CSSV-infected cocoa genotypes CL 19/10 strain 1A and Amelonado Plant 2 to produce callus, primary and secondary somatic embryos, with genotype AMAZ 15 used as a virus-free control. PCR-based CSSV detection proved that virus could be detected at callus, primary somatic embryos and secondary somatic embryo stages, indicating that the progress of the virus was progressively impeded. These findings support the use of somatic embryogenesis as a mean of improving CSSV-free clonal propagation of cocoa. Somatic embryogenesis is indeed effective for virus elimination in cocoa and it has been demonstrated to function for a range of cocoa genotypes. This also means that a likely mechanism for the interruption of CSSV movement has been identified.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Plant Science and Environmental Ecology, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, University Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

  • School of Biological Sciences, Harborne Building, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, UK

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