CICY researcher patents method to detect papaya meleira

The doctor Luisa Alhucema López Ochoaresearcher at the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants Unit of the CICYparticipated in the discovery of a virus that affects papaya crops in the south-southeast region of Mexico, but it has also been detected in other countries such as Brazil and Australia, so the findings are of great importance for the international agricultural community.

under the International Day of Girls and Women in Sciencewhich is celebrated on February 11, invited all those students interested in training in this area, to follow their dreams so that with their work, they achieve those great contributions that benefit society.

CICY researcher patents method to detect papaya meleira — Luisa López Ochoa, researcher at the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants Unit of the CICY

What is your project about?

It is an investigation that began in 2011, with the aim of finding a detection method for the disease called papaya meleira or “sticky disease”.

What is the meleira?

It is a particular disease of this crop that arose in Brazil at the end of the eighties of the last century and there it had been maintained, but suddenly similar symptoms of this disease were found in Mexico, in Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Oaxaca, Veracruz.

How does it manifest?

The big problem is that it does not cause symptoms in plants in a vegetative state, until they are already producing fruits. What it causes is that the latex of the plants begins to come out spontaneously, without anyone touching them, which is why it is also known as the “tearful papaya” disease.

What are its effects?

The problem is that once the latex drains, it oxidizes and turns black, causing black spots like sticky honey on the fruits, preventing farmers from selling them, because it changes their physical characteristics and even their flavor.

How did you carry out this research?

Through Genbio, a molecular laboratory of pathogens that, upon seeing these symptoms, assumed that it was that disease and with the existing methods to diagnose RNA viruses. There, an attempt was made to make the diagnosis with the primer sequences of the Brazilian meleira, but they could not make the diagnosis and it seemed that this method did not work.

How did they get it?

With another method that simply requires extracting RNA nucleic acids from diseased papaya fruits and running them on a gel, where it was possible to see that the virus was present, so we worked on creating a diagnostic method for that disease.

What were the findings obtained?

We developed and patented the method for diagnosing this virus, we sequenced it and saw that it is actually a variant of the virus that had been found in Brazil, however, we obtained a sample from that country and realized that the virus detected in Mexico was also in Brazil, even in Australia.

What advantages does this method bring?

That now the detection can be done even with the leaves to analyze the plants from their vegetative state, without waiting for them to produce fruits. In addition, the Genbio discovered that it is a disease that is transmitted by seeds and also by vectors or insects.

How will it help world agriculture?

Thanks to our contribution, we now know that this disease is called the “Mexican variant of the VMVX meleira virus”, which I thought was super interesting because we discovered a new virus, different from all those known to belong to a new group.

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How do you feel about having participated in this discovery?

It has been very gratifying, it was quite fast and interesting to know that our work can contribute something to society, also from the basic point of view, it has been very interesting, personally being able to do something that can be applied for the benefit of society.