©2015 Scienceweb Publishing PCR and ELISA detection of cassava mosaic virus in a Congolese cassava landrace Otono Freddy Bulubulu 1 * • Ndofunsu Aimé Diamuini 1 • Nakweti Ruffin Kikakedimau 1 • Ntumbula Alexandre Mbaya 1 • Hity Mutambel 1 • Kasali Lumande 2 • Ndiku Luyindula 1 • Gladys Rufflard 3 • Philippe Lepoivre 3 1 Département de Biotechnologie et Génétique moléculaire, Commissariat Général à l’Energie Atomique (CGEA/CREN-K.), B.P. 868 Kin XI Kinshasa/République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) 2 Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kinshasa, B.P. 190 KinXI, RDC. 3 Laboratoire de Phytopathologie, Gembloux Agro-BioTech, Université de Liège, Passage des Déportés 2, Gembloux 5030, Belgique. *Corresponding author. E-mail: freddy.bulubulu@upn.ac.cd, freddybbl@yahoo.fr. Accepted 27 th January 2015 Abstract. The aim of this study is to diagnosing the cassava mosaic virus in the cuttings of the Congolese cassava landrace Manihot esculenta var. Boma. Symptoms severity was evaluated by visual observation of leaves in field and in greenhouse. The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and DAS-ELISA tests were used to detect the cassava mosaic virus in this variety. The results showed that the disease index on infected plants were about 3.3 in the field and 2.8 in the greenhouse respectively. The presence of African Cassava Mosaic Virus (ACMV) in samples of this variety was detected by DAS-ELISA. The polymerase chain reaction was well performed for the identification of ACMV and not successful for the Uganda variant of East African Mosaic Virus (EACMV-UG) identification in the leaves samples with or without symptoms. Keywords: Cassava, virus identification, severity, molecular and serology detection INTRODUCTION Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz, Euphorbiaceae) is a major food crop for more than half a billion people in Africa, Latin America and Asia. It plays a role of food security for more than 300 million people of sub-Saharan African population. It is one of the sources of income for farmers in several African countries (FAO, 2000; Ewuzie, 2008). Cassava nourishes more than 60% people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) population (FAOSTAT, 2009). It is cultivated in all the DRC provinces with a total production of 15,300 tons (FAO, 2008, 2009). The cassava production is seriously constrained by several pests and diseases, among them: Cassava Mosaic Virus Disease (CMD), whose etiological agent is transmitted through an insect vector, the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius), as well as through the cuttings harvested from infected plants (IITA, 1990; Thresh et al., 1997; IITA, 2000; Ambang et al., 2006; Legg et al., 2006). Seven begomovirus species widely distributed in Sub- Saharian Africa are recognized (Bisimwa et al., 2012). A recombining stock exceptionally virulent, the Uganda variant of East African Cassava Mosaic Virus (EACMV- UG) was associated the severe pandemia of African Cassava Mosaic Virus (ACMV) in Central and East Africa. Both, ACMV and EACMV-UG, were recorded in DRC in the West (Kinshasa and Bas-Congo Provinces) (Neuenschwander et al., 2002), and in the East, in particular in Yangambi region (Monde et al., 2010), the South-Kivu and North-Kivu (Karakacha, 2001; Obonyo et al., 2007; Bisimwa et al., 2012). Manihot esculenta var. Boma, one of the congolese varieties of cassava appreciated by the population in the International Journal of Biotechnology and Food Science Vol. 3(1), pp. 10-16, February 2015 ISSN: 2384-7344 Research Paper