First Report of Banana Streak Virus Infecting Banana in Burkina Faso

Banana plants (Musa spp), both food and economic crops, are potential hosts for a various range of badnavirus species considered a major constraint to banana improvement and a threat to Musa production worldwide. A survey and sample collection were carried out in two main banana-growing regions of Burkina Faso. The samples collected were subjected to biological, serological and molecular diagnosis of the reverse transcriptase/ribonuclease H (RT/RNase H) region using Badna FP/RP primers, followed by sequence comparison with the Genbank database. Analyses confirmed the presence of Banana streak virus (BSV) in all symptomatic samples tested in both regions. Amplification bands of the expected size were obtained for the symptomatic samples tested positive in the serological test. These partial RT/RNase H gene sequences shared highest nucleotide identity ranging from 85.80% to 99.05% with BSV isolates in GenBank. These results are proof of the existence of BSV in Burkina Faso. It is therefore important to undertake studies that will provide basic information on the virus for the development of effective control strategies.