First report of blueberry red ringspot disease caused by Blueberry red ringspot virus in Japan.

Virus-like symptoms—red ringspots on stems and leaves, circular blotches or pale spots on fruit—were found on commercial highbush blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosum) cultivars Blueray, Weymouth, Duke and Sierra in Japan. In PCR testing, single DNA fragments were amplified from total nucleic acid samples of the diseased blueberry bushes using primers specific to Blueberry red ringspot virus (BRRV). Sequencing analysis of the amplified products revealed 95.7–97.7% nucleotide sequence identity with the BRRV genome. This paper is the first report of blueberry red ringspot disease caused by BRRV in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]