Alternative Host Ring on Potyvirus Infected Plants Melon in Bali

      This study aims to determine the range of alternative hosts and the variation of Potyvirus symptoms in melon plants in Bali. This range test is carried out by testing ten species of plant test plants planted in pots measuring 10 x 10 x 10 cm which contain a mixture of soil and charcoal with a ratio of 1: 2. Each plant was planted as many as 10 seedlings in which nine plants were inoculated with Potyvirus and one plant was not inoculated as control. The test plants were kept in insect-proofed greenhouses until the plants were ready to be inoculated. Inoculation was carried out mechanically using diseased plant sap (sap) fluid. Sap is made from the leaves of plants infected with Potyvirus. The study consisted of (1) evaluating the range of hosts with mechanical inoculation, (2). Observation of symptoms in the plants being tested, (3) Serological tests with ELISA.

      Efforts to develop melon cultivation to meet the needs of the community are faced with obstacles that cause the level of melon consumption to be not met. One of the factors causing the unmet consumption of melons in Indonesia is due to diseases in melon plants infected by viruses originating from the Potyvirus group so that production targets for melon consumption levels are still not met (Prasetyo et al. 2018). Control that can be done on Potyvirus is by crop rotation, controlling disease-carrying vectors (aphids), and can be done by uprooting melon plants infected with potyvirus then burned. Despite the control of Potyvirus, this virus still survives, because this virus has an alternative host. Until now there has been no information on Potyvirus alternative hosts, therefore further research is needed to determine the range of alternative hosts of Potyvirus.