A validated ordinal diagrammatic severity scale for zucchini yellow mosaic virus in Cucurbita moschata: Screening for tolerant accessions in Peru
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17268/sci.agropecu.2025.062Palabras clave:
aligned rank transform, DAS-ELISA, kappa test, phytopathometry, plant disease epidemiology, potyvirus, resistance breeding, tropical pumpkinResumen
The squash (Cucurbita moschata), a landrace crop with a denomination of origin in Lambayeque, Peru, represents a valuable genetic resource with potential for tolerance or resistance to potyviruses. Among these, zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) is one of the most destructive viral pathogens affecting cucurbits worldwide. This study aimed validate a diagrammatic ordinal scale for assessing ZYMV disease severity under field conditions and to identify resistant accessions. Sixteen accessions were evaluated under natural infection in an experimental field of the Vegetable Research Program at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru. Following previous virus confirmation via RT-PCR and HTS sequencing, disease monitoring included symptom characterization and virus detection by DAS-ELISA, which confirmed a high incidence of ZYMV. Utilizing a dataset of 40 leaf samples representing different severity levels, a four-level ordinal diagrammatic scale was developed by integrating visual foliar symptomatology with relative viral concentration (optical density) obtained from DAS-ELISA. The scale was validated through field evaluations using independent raters, and its reliability was assessed using Fleiss’ kappa and Cohen’s kappa statistics. The proposed scale demonstrated high biological accuracy, revealing a strong, highly significant correlation between visual severity levels and serological viral concentration (Spearman's ρ = 0.937, p < 0.0001). Inter-rater reliability assessments confirmed strong overall reproducibility among independent evaluators (Fleiss’ kappa = 0.608, p < 0.001). Statistical analysis revealed a highly significant differential response among genotypes; accession C44 exhibited the lowest and most stable severity levels, closely followed by C09, establishing them as highly promising sources of resistance. This study provides a reliable tool for ZYMV severity assessment and supports the identification of genetic resources for resistance breeding programs in cucurbits. The scale developed in this study will help standardize symptom assessment and improve the identification and selection of resistant plant materials, thereby enhancing the efficiency of resistance breeding programs.
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