Abstract from Fourth National Congress of Virology with International Participation /Days of Virology in Bulgaria Sofia, May 18th - 20th, 2016

Bistra Dikova

Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection

The spreading of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and the disease symptoms it causes on aromatic and medicinal plants of the Lamiaceae and Asteraceae families was studied in the period 2004-2015. The best essential oil plant species for production pertain to these families. The identification of the virus was done by the serological method DAS ELISA and indicator method of CMV-test plants. The results for CMV detection on fifteen of the most popular species of the Lamiaceae and eight of Asteraceae families were presented. CMV was found in over fifty percent of the analyzed plants of ten of them. These species were: Agastache foeniculum, Melissa officinalis, Ocimum basilicum, Origanum heracleoticum, Salvia officinalis, Salvia sclarea, Satureja hortensis, Thymus officinalis (Lamiaceae), Inula helenium, Serratula coronate (Asteraceae). Percentage of infection was lower in 7 species from Lamiaceae (Hyssopus officinalis, Lavandula angustifolia, Mentha piperita, Mentha spicata, Monarda fistulosa, Nepeta cataria, Nepeta racemosa) and 6 species from Asteraceae (Artemisia absinthium, Calendula officinalis, Echinacea purpurea, Leuzea carthamoides Matricaria chamomilla, Silybum marianum). A special attention on the control of CMV-caused viroses would result in high yield of premium quality.