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Research article2023Peer reviewedOpen access

Milder Autumns May Increase Risk for Infection of Crops with Turnip Yellows Virus

Siddique, Abu Bakar; Singh, Khushwant; Poimenopoulou, Efstratia; Pettersson, Josefin; Puthanveed, Vinitha; Kvarnheden, Anders

Abstract

Climate change has increased the risk for infection of crops with insect-transmitted viruses. Mild autumns provide prolonged active periods to insects, which may spread viruses to winter crops. In autumn 2018, green peach aphids (Myzus persicae) were found in suction traps in southern Sweden that presented infection risk for winter oilseed rape (OSR; Brassica napus) with turnip yellows virus (TuYV). A survey was carried out in spring 2019 with random leaf samples from 46 OSR fields in southern and central Sweden using DAS-ELISA, and TuYV was detected in all fields except one. In the counties of Skane, Kalmar, and ostergotland, the average incidence of TuYV-infected plants was 75%, and the incidence reached 100% for nine fields. Sequence analyses of the coat protein gene revealed a close relationship between TuYV isolates from Sweden and other parts of the world. High-throughput sequencing for one of the OSR samples confirmed the presence of TuYV and revealed coinfection with TuYV-associated RNA. Molecular analyses of seven sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) plants with yellowing, collected in 2019, revealed that two of them were infected by TuYV, together with two other poleroviruses: beet mild yellowing virus and beet chlorosis virus. The presence of TuYV in sugar beet suggests a spillover from other hosts. Poleroviruses are prone to recombination, and mixed infection with three poleroviruses in the same plant poses a risk for the emergence of new polerovirus genotypes.Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license.

Keywords

aphids; climate change; disease incidence; high-throughput sequencing; insect vectors; oilseed rape; poleroviruses; Solemoviridae; sugar beet; turnip yellows virus-associated RNA

Published in

Phytopathology
2023, Volume: 113, number: 9, pages: 1788-1798