Plants of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), showing symptoms of stunt, stem necrosis and chlorotic mosaic, similar to those induced by virus infection were found in a bean field in Londrina, Paraná. Electron microscopy examinations showed isometric virus particles in the cell cytoplasm. Double immunodifusion serological tests with antiserum for Southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV) gave positive results when tested against plant sap from infected bean plants. The virus was purified and the molecular mass of its coat protein was estimated as 30 kDa, the expected value for the coat protein of viruses from the genus Sobemovirus. The host range of the virus was restricted to bean and some soybean (Glycine max) cultivars. It was possible to separate two isometric viruses commonly found in bean based on the immunity reaction of Crotalaria sp., Chenopodium quinoa and Mucuna deeringiana to SBMV, and on the susceptibility reaction of the same hosts to Bean rugose mosaic virus (BRMV).
SBMV; Sobemovirus; BRMV
