Research Information System
Journal of Plant Pathology, vol.108, no.1, pp.877-878, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Blueberry red ringspot virus (BRRV) (Soymovirus maculavaccinii) belongs to the
Soymovirus genus in the Caulimoviridae family, causes red ringspot disease in
highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.), and has been reported in blueberrygrowing
regions in the United States, Japan, and some European countries. Intensive
virus surveillance conducted since 2015 in Türkiye, where wild and cultivated
blueberries are widely grown, has identified blueberry mosaic-associated virus (BlMaV)
as the most prevalent virus, with blueberry leaf mottle virus (BLMoV) recently reported
(Çağlayan et al. 2025). In August 2023, red ringspot symptoms (Supplementary Fig. 1)
resembling BRRV infection were observed on leaves and stems of the Darrow cultivar
in Kocaeli province in Turkiye, although the fruits were symptomless. To confirm the
presence of BRRV, DNA was extracted from 290 symptomatic and asymptomatic
blueberry plants using DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Germany) and subjected to PCR
using primers targeting the putative translational transactivator (BRRSV3F/BRRSV4R:
Polashock et. al., 2009) and coat protein (BRRSV 13F/BRRSV 14R: Glasheen et al.
2002) genes of BRRV. DNA fragments of the expected sizes were successfully
amplified from only five symptomatic plants using both primer pairs (Supplementary
Fig. 2), and were sequenced in both orientations and submitted to GenBank (Acc. No.
OR684355-59 for the putative translational transactivator gene and OR886932-36 for
the coat protein gene). Sequence and phylogenetic analysis (Supplementary Fig. 3)
revealed that the Turkish BRRV isolates were closely related to an isolate from
Slovenia (Acc. No. JF421559), exhibiting 99.79% (coat protein) to 100% (translational
transactivator) nucleotide sequence identity. These findings represent the first
detection of BRRV in highbush blueberries in Türkiye. Considering rapid expansion of
blueberry cultivation in the country, results of this study highlight the importance of
implementing strict propagation and management strategies. Effective measures will
be essential to mitigate the spread of BRRV and other blueberry viruses, thereby
protecting crop health and ensuring sustainable production.