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The prevalence and spatial distribution of viruses in natural populations of Brassica oleracea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1999

A. F. RAYBOULD
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Furzebrook Research Station, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5AS, UK
L. C. MASKELL
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Furzebrook Research Station, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5AS, UK
M-L. EDWARDS
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK
J. I. COOPER
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK
A. J. GRAY
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Furzebrook Research Station, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5AS, UK
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Abstract

We report a survey of four viruses (beet western yellows luteovirus (BWYV), cauliflower mosaic caulimovirus (CaMV), turnip mosaic potyvirus (TuMV), turnip yellow mosaic tymovirus (TYMV)) in five natural populations of Brassica oleracea in Dorset (UK). All four viruses were common; 43% of plants were infected with BWYV, 60% with CaMV, 43% with TuMV and 18% with TYMV. For each virus there were significant differences in the proportion of infected plants among populations, which were not completely explained by differences in the age of plants. Multiple virus infections were prevalent, with 54% of plants having two or more virus types. There were statistically significant associations between pairs of viruses. The CaMV was positively associated with the other three viruses, and BWYV was also positively associated with TuMV. There was no detectable association between BWYV and TYMV, whereas TuMV and TYMV were negatively associated. We suggest these associations result from BWYV, CaMV and TuMV having aphid vectors in common, as aphids are attracted to plants that already have a virus infection. Infected plants were distributed randomly or were very weakly aggregated within populations. The implications of widespread multiple virus infections in natural plant populations are discussed with respect to the release of transgenic plants expressing virus-derived genes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Trustees of New Phytologist 1999

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