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First Report of Beet black scorch virus in the United States

In October of 2005, sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) plants exhibiting symptoms of rhizomania caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) (3) were observed in a production field near Greeley, CO. The roots of seven plants exhibiting moderate to severe symptoms characteristic of this disease were tested using double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with anti-BNYVV antiserum from rabbits. Of these, only two roots exhibiting the mildest symptoms tested positive for BNYVV (all roots tested negative for the presence of the related Beet soilborne mosaic virus (BSBMV). ‘Hairy’ lateral roots characteristic of the disease were combined from the remaining five roots, ground in phosphate buffer, and the supernatant from the suspension was mechanically applied to leaves of Chenopodium quinoa in an effort to isolate an infectious agent. Five days postinoculation (dpi), yellow lesions with necrotic centers were visible on inoculated leaves, well in advance of those typically observed for BNYVV or BSBMV. Lesions exhibiting a similar rate of development on C. quinoa subsequently were induced from extracts of root vascular tissue prepared from four of seven additional beet roots tested from this location. Transfer of the infection from the C. quinoa lesions to 32 healthy C. quinoa and 10 sugar beet plants (hybrid ACH9369; American Crystal Sugar Co., Moorhead MN) resulted in 100% infection. Inoculated leaves of C. quinoa exhibited a high density of necrotic local lesions within 3 dpi, whereas inoculated leaves of sugar beet exhibited pinpoint, necrotic to diffuse, chlorotic local lesions evident by 5 dpi. Electron microscopic examination of fixed, ultra-thin sections of symptomatic C. quinoa leaf tissue revealed aggregates of virus-like particles of icosahedral symmetry within the cell cytoplasm. Following a virus minipreparation procedure, nucleic acid extracted from the partially purified virus was found to be single-stranded RNA by ribonuclease digestion and alone was infectious when inoculated to C. quinoa leaves. The apparently monopartite RNA genome was 3.5 kb long and a candidate for the single coat protein (CP) had a mass of ˜25 kDa. The sole reference set found in the literature for a virus naturally occurring on sugar beet with similar characteristics was that for Beet black scorch virus (BBSV), a virus recently accepted by the ICTV into the genus Necrovirus within the family Tombusviridae (2). Prior to this communication, BBSV has only been reported in China where it was first documented affecting sugar beet in the late 1980s (1). Using the published sequence of BBSV (Genbank Accession No. AY626780), DNA primers directed to the 3′ half of the BBSV genome were used in reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to produce an amplicon from the unknown virus. Sequencing the amplicon revealed 88.8% nucleotide sequence identity to the BBSV CP gene and 97% amino acid sequence identity to the predicted CP gene product. Combined, the nucleotide sequence and physical characteristics confirm the presence of BBSV in a U.S. sugarbeet field for the first time. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the occurrence of BBSV outside of China.

References: (1) Y. Cao et al. Arch. Virol. 147:2431, 2002. (2) C. M. Fauquet et al. Eighth Report of the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses. Academic Press, New York, 2005. (3) C. M. Rush. Ann. Rev. Phytopathol. 41:567, 2003.