ARS | Publication request: Co-inoculation of wheat with Triticum mosaic virus and Wheat streak mosaic virus exacerbates loss of fresh and dry matter

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: July 20, 2011
Publication Date: August 1, 2011
Citation: Byamukama, E., Tatineni, S., Hein, G., Wegulo, S. 2011. Co-inoculation of wheat with Triticum mosaic virus and Wheat streak mosaic virus exacerbates loss of fresh and dry matter. American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting. Phytopathology 101:S24.

Technical Abstract: Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) is a recently discovered virus of wheat in the Great Plains of the United States. Information on TriMV’s effect on yield when it infects wheat alone or in combination with Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is scant. In a greenhouse experiment, winter wheat cultivars Millennium (WSMV-susceptible) and Mace (WSMV-resistant) were mechanically inoculated with TriMV, WSMV, TriMV+WSMV, or sterile water at the 2-leaf growth stage. At 28 days post inoculation, the number of tillers per plant (TPP), shoot fresh weight (SFW), shoot dry weight (SDW), root fresh weight (RFW), and root dry weight (RDW) were determined. TPP was significantly (LSD, P = 0.05) lower only in TriMV+WSMV-inoculated plants in Millennium. In TriMV-inoculated plants, SDW was significantly reduced only in Millennium. SFW and SDW were similar in TriMV- and WSMV-inoculated plants in both cultivars. RFW and RDW did not differ between TriMV- and WSMV-inoculated plants in Millennium or Mace, but were significantly lower in inoculated than in non-inoculated Millennium plants. In TriMV + WSMV-inoculated plants, SFW was reduced by 64.1% in Millennium and 11.3% in Mace; SDW was reduced by 47.3% in Millennium and 3.5% in Mace; RFW was reduced by 74.5% in Millennium and 15.5% in Mace; and RDW was reduced by 79.3% in Millennium and 29.5% in Mace. These results imply a high risk for yield loss when susceptible wheat is coinfected with TriMV and WSMV.