How virulent are emerging maize-infecting mastreviruses?
- 27 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Archiv für die gesamte Virusforschung
- Vol. 166 (3), 955-959
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-020-04906-x
Abstract
Maize streak disease (MSD) is one of the most significant biotic constraints on the production of Africa’s most important cereal crop. Until recently, the only virus known to cause severe MSD was the A-strain of maize streak virus (MSV/A), a member of the genus Mastrevirus, family Geminiviridae. However, over the past decade, two other mastreviruses, MSV/C and maize streak Réunion virus (MSRV), have been repeatedly found in the absence of MSV/A in maize plants displaying severe MSD symptoms. Here, we report on infectious clones of MSV/C and MSRV and test their ability to cause severe MSD symptoms. Although cloned MSV/C and MSRV genomes could cause systemic symptomatic infections in MSD-sensitive maize genotypes, these infections yielded substantially milder symptoms than those observed in the field. The MSV/C and MSRV isolates that we have examined are therefore unlikely to cause severe MSD on their own. Furthermore, mixed infections of MSRV and MSV/C with other mild MSV strains also consistently yielded mild MSD symptoms. It is noteworthy that MSRV produces distinctive striate symptoms in maize that are similar in pattern, albeit not in severity, to those seen in the field, showing that this virus may contribute to the severe MSD symptoms seen in the field. Therefore, despite not fulfilling Koch’s postulates for MSV/C and MSRV as causal agents of severe MSD, we cannot exclude the possibility that these viruses could be contributing to currently emerging maize diseases.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Research Foundation (105461)
- Conseil Régional de La Réunion
- Agropolis Fondation (E-SPACE project number 1504-004)
- Conseil Régional de La Réunion
- The World Academy of Sciences (105461)
- European Union ERDF (GURDT I2016-1731-0006632, GURDT 12016-1731-0006632)
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- Pathogen–host–environment interplay and disease emergenceEmerging Microbes & Infections, 2013
- A novel maize-infecting mastrevirus from La Réunion IslandArchiv für die gesamte Virusforschung, 2012
- Maize streak virus: an old and complex ‘emerging’ pathogenMolecular Plant Pathology, 2010
- Behavioural aspects influencing plant virus transmission by homopteran insectsVirus Research, 2009
- Virulence evolution and the trade‐off hypothesis: history, current state of affairs and the futureJournal of Evolutionary Biology, 2009
- Biological and Genomic Sequence Characterization of Maize streak virus Isolates from WheatPhytopathology®, 2002
- Evaluation of Maize Streak Virus Pathogenicity in Differentially Resistant Zea mays GenotypesPhytopathology®, 1999
- Tissue Specificity ofZea maysInfection by Maize Streak VirusMolecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®, 1996
- Detection of maize streak virus antigens over time in different parts of maize plants of a sensitive and a so-called tolerant cultivar by ELISAAnnals of Applied Biology, 1992
- Investigations of the mechanism of the transmission of plant viruses by insect vectors III. The insect’s salivaProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B - Biological Sciences, 1939