Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus is an economically important Tobamovirus that infects cucurbits. In September 2014, it was detected in the Northern Territory. This was the first time it had been reported in Australia. A three year national project focused on the improved management options for Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus.
The three key research areas of this project were to:
- Determine the importance of weeds, non-host plants and honeybees on CGMMV in disease epidemiology.
- Examine the potential for in-field diagnostics to assist rapid detection of the virus on farms known/suspected to be infected with CGMMV.
- Develop multilingual communication and extension materials to assist with management options to cucurbit growers including on-farm biosecurity protocols.
To address these research areas, five key activities were carried out:
- Activity 1. CGMMV alternative host and non-hosts.
- Activity 2. Understanding CGMMV biology in contaminated soil
- Activity 3. Improving CGMMV diagnostics for plant and seed
- Activity 4. Understanding the role of honey bees in CGMMV epidemiology
- Activity 5. Extension and capacity building