The genus Erigeron, Asteraceae family, comprises weed plants spread over Southern and Southeastern Brazil, and, frequently, is found among annual and perennial crop plants. Erigeron bonariensis L.plants showing symptoms of mosaic, similar to those caused by plant viruses, were collected in São Paulo State and submitted to electron microscopy, biological, serological and molecular analysis. Ultrathin sections of the original foliar tissues samples showed tubular and pinwheel inclusions dispersed in the cytoplasm of infected cells. Following transmission by mechanical inoculation, only Chenopodium amaranticolor, C. quinoa, Nicotiana benthamiana and N. clevelandii were infected. The ELISA results were negative with antisera against Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) and Potato virus Y (PVY) and positive for Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) antiserum. With specific primers to LMV, 280 bp fragments were amplified and sequenced, confirming the virus identity as LMV. The occurrence of LMV in E. bonariensis, which belongs to the lettuce (Lactuca sativa) family, is significant since it may also act as LMV reservoir for lettuce field crops. This is the first report in Brazil of a virus infecting Erigeron sp. which has also been reported as a natural host of Bidens mottle virus and Tomato spotted wilt virus in the United States.
