VIEW ARTICLE

Etiology

Taxonomy of Potyviruses Infecting Maize, Sorghum, and Sugarcane in Australia and the United States as Determined by Reactivities of Polyclonal Antibodies Directed towards Virus-Specific N-Termini of Coat Proteins. D. D. Shukla, Principal research scientist, CSIRO, Division of Biotechnology, Parkville Laboratory, 343 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia; M. Tosic(2), J. Jilka(3), R. E. Ford(4), R. W. Toler(5), and M. A. C. Langham(6). (2)Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Beograd-Zemun 11080, Yugoslavia; (3)(4)Graduate assistant and professor, Departments of Biochemistry and Plant Pathology, respectively, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801; (5)Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Texas A & M University, College Station 77843; (6)Research associate, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701. Phytopathology 79:223-229. Accepted for publication 7 August 1988. Copyright 1989 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-79-223.

A large number of potyvirus isolates currently classified as strains of sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) are reported to infect maize, sorghum, and sugarcane in various parts of the world, although isolates originating in maize have been frequently referred to as strains of maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV). The taxonomic status and the serological interrelationships of these strains have never been clearly defined. In this paper we have compared 17 SCMV/MDMV strains from Australia and the United States on the basis of their reactivities, in electro-blot immunoassay, with cross-absorbed polyclonal antibodies directed towards surface-located, virus-specific N-termini of coat proteins. Our results clearly demonstrate that the 17 SCMV/MDMV strains belong to four distinct potyviruses for which the names Johnsongrass mosaic virus (SCMV-JG and MDMV-O), maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV-A, MDMV-D, MDMV-E, and MDMV-F), sugarcane mosaic virus (MDMV-B, SCMV-A, SCMV-B, SCMV-D, SCMV-E, SCMV-SC, SCMV-BC, and SCMV-Sabi), and sorghum mosaic virus (SCMV-H, SCMV-I, and SCMV-M) have been proposed.