The occurrence of the Tulip breaking virus in tulips in the northern part of Turkey

The tulip (Tulipa sp.) is one of the most important ornamental bulbous plants, which has been cultivated as a cut-flower, potted, and garden plant, and used for landscaping in Turkey. This study investigated the occurrence of a viral disease in the tulip cultivars Strong Gold, Pretty Woman and Purple Prince that causes striping of the leaves, flames of different colours on the petals and mosaic patterns on the leaves, in Samsun province of Turkey. Surveys of virus-infected tulip plants were carried out in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey in 2015-2016. A total of 212 samples were collected from four locations and checked by biological, serological and molecular methods for the presence of the Tulip breaking virus (TBV). TBV was detected in the leaves and flowers by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (DAS-ELISA) in the tulip cultivars (15.5%) tested from Samsun province. TBV infection was found at the highest rate in the cultivar Strong Gold (19.7%), followed by Pretty Woman (14.1%) and Purple Prince (12.8%). The presence of TBV in samples was further confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. This is the first report on TBV naturally infecting tulips in Samsun province, Turkey.