Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #140915
Title: FIRST REPORT OF RHIZOMANIA DISEASE OF SUGAR BEET IN THE GREAT LAKES PRODUCTION REGION.

Author
item Wintermantel, William - Bill
item CROOK, TERESA - MICHIGAN SUGAR CO.
item FOGG, RALPH - MONITOR SUGAR CO.

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/23/2002
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Rhizomania, caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and vectored by the soil-borne fungus Polymyxa betae Keskin, is one of the most economically damaging diseases affecting sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). In the fall of 2002, mature sugarbeet plants exhibiting typical rhizomania root symptoms (3) were found in several fields scattered throughout central and eastern Michigan. Two to five sugarbeet root samples were collected from each field and sent to the USDA, ARS in Salinas, CA for analysis. Roots were washed and tested by DAS-ELISA for the presence of BNYVV using standard procedures and antiserum specific for BNYVV (2). Sugar beet roots were tested individually, and samples were considered positive when absorbance values were at least three times those of greenhouse-grown healthy sugar beet controls. Samples were tested from 16 fields, with 10 confirmed positive for BNYVV. Fields were considered positive if one beet tested positive for BNYVV, but in most cases all beets tested from a field were either uniformly positive or uniformly negative. Fields testing positive for BNYVV were widely dispersed within a 100 square mile area including portions of Gratiot, Saginaw, Tuscola and Sanilac Countries in the central and eastern portions of the lower peninsula of Michigan. The wide geographic distribution of infested fields suggests the entire region should monitor for symptoms, maintain a minimum 3 to 4 year rotation to nonhost crops, and consider planting rhizomania resistant sugar beet varieties to BNYVV-infested fields.

Technical Abstract: In the fall of 2002, mature sugarbeet plants exhibiting typical root symptoms of rhizomania, caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and vectored by the soil-borne fungus Polymyxa betae Keskin (3) were found in several fields scattered throughout central and eastern Michigan. Two to five sugarbeet root samples were collected from 16 fields and sent to the USDA, ARS in Salinas, CA for analysis. Roots were washed and tested by DAS-ELISA for the presence of BNYVV using standard procedures and antiserum specific for BNYVV (2). Sugar beet roots were tested individually, and samples were considered positive when absorbance values were at least three times those of greenhouse-grown healthy sugar beet controls. BNYVV was confirmed in 10 of the 16 fields tested. Fields testing positive for BNYVV were widely dispersed within a 100 square mile area including portions of Gratiot, Saginaw, Tuscola and Sanilac Counties. The wide geographic distribution of infested fields suggests the entire region should monitor for symptoms, maintain a minimum 3 to 4 year rotation to nonhost crops, and consider planting rhizomania resistant sugar beet varieties to BNYVV-infested fields.