Incidence of Celery Mosaic Disease in Cianjur Regency, West Java and Identification of Its Causal Agent

Abstract

Celery is one of the economically important horticultural commodities, consumed as aromatic ingredients in various meals, fresh snacks, or juice. The high public interest in celery has the potential to open up new business opportunities that can increase the economic value of this plant. However, virus infections may cause abnormalities in celery leaves, making the crop unmarketable. This study aims to identify the virus that causes mosaic disease in celery in Cianjur Regency and to determine the relationship between cultivation techniques and environmental conditions with the incidence of the disease. The research stages included interviews with farmers, observations of disease incidence in the field, leaf sampling, identification of insect vector, molecular detection of viruses by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method, and bioassays of mosaic virus transmission to healthy celery plants. The incidence of mosaic disease in celery crops reached 40.62%. Further statistical analysis showed that plant age and the presence of insect vectors significantly influenced the incidence of mosaic disease in celery. Four types of mosaic symptoms were found in the field, and molecular identification showed that these mosaic symptoms were associated with Celery mosaic virus (CeMV). The CeMV isolate from the Cianjur area has high nucleotide sequence homology (99.59%) with GenBank accessions, i.e., the CeMV isolate from Berastagi, North Sumatra. Furthermore, the transmission assay proved that CeMV can be transmitted mechanically to celery plants of the Amigo variety. The results of this study provide information to be used as a reference for the development of mosaic disease control strategies in celery.

Seledri merupakan komoditas hortikultura yang memiliki manfaat di bidang ekonomi dan kesehatan. Tingginya animo masyarakat terhadap seledri berpotensi membuka peluang bisnis baru yang dapat meningkatkan nilai ekonomi tanaman ini. Namun, infeksi virus mengakibatkan abnormalitas pada daun seledri yang berdampak pada penurunan kualitas hingga tidak layak untuk dipasarkan. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengidentifikasi virus penyebab penyakit mosaik pada pertanaman seledri di Kabupaten Cianjur serta mengetahui keterkaitan antara teknik budi daya dan kondisi lingkungan dengan insidensi penyakit tersebut. Tahap penelitian meliputi wawancara dengan petani, pengamatan insidensi penyakit di lapangan, pengambilan sampel, identifikasi serangga vektor yang ditemukan, deteksi virus secara molekuler dengan metode reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), dan bioesei penularan virus mosaik ke tanaman seledri sehat. Insidensi penyakit mosaik pada pertanaman seledri mencapai 40,62%. Analisis lebih lanjut menunjukkan bahwa umur tanaman dan keberadaan serangga vektor memiliki pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap insidensi penyakit mosaik pada seledri. Ditemukan empat jenis gejala mosaik di lapangan dan identifikasi molekuler menunjukkan bahwa gejala mosaik tersebut berasosiasi dengan Celery mosaic virus (CeMV). Isolat CeMV asal daerah Cianjur memiliki homologi sekuen nukleotida yang tinggi (99,59%) dengan aksesi GenBank, yaitu isolat CeMV asal Berastagi, Sumatera Utara. Lebih lanjut, bioassay penularan membuktikan bahwa virus mosaik seledri dapat ditularkan secara mekanis ke tanaman seledri varietas Amigo. Hasil penelitian ini diharapkan dapat digunakan sebagai acuan untuk pengembangan strategi pengendalian penyakit mosaik pada seledri.