A virus causing mottling, yellowing, necrosis, malformation and stunting on Arachis hypogaea L. plants was identified as Peanut mottle virus (PeMV) on the basis of host range, symptomatology, serology and RT-PCR.  The purified virus formed a single zone in the density gradient columns. The absorption spectrum of the purified virus had A_max at 260 nm and A_min at 245 nm. The A _260/280 and A_max/min ratios were 2.6 and 1.3, respectively. The estimated yield of the purified virus was 0.7 mg / 100g of peanut tissue. The virus particles had about 720-750 nm long and 13 nm width. Antiserum produced against PeMV had a titer of 1/1024 using indirect ELISA. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based method was developed for testing peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plants for infection by Peanut mottle virus (PeMV).  The PCR product (340 bp) of PeMV/CP was successfully amplified by using one set of specific primers designed from conserved sequences within the capsid region of the virus.  A good correlation was obtained between virus detection by RT-PCR method and virus detection from the same plants by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).