Effects of summer fallow management on take-all of winter wheat caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gaeumannomyces graminis</Emphasis> var. <Emphasis Type="Italic">tritici</Emphasis>

Crop rotation is the oldest, and perhaps the best cultural practice for reducing the risk of take-all. The effects of crops sown before wheat in a rotation are known in detail, but we know little about the opportunities for reducing take-all risk by planting certain crops in the summer period between wheat harvest and the planting of a subsequent winter wheat crop. We investigated the effects on take-all of five summer fallow crops, two soil tillage treatments and a fungicide seed treatment, in a five site-year experiment. We tested the effects of oats, oilseed rape, mustard, ryegrass and volunteer wheat crops. Bare-soil plots were also included. Take-all epidemics varied with year and site. Summer fallow crops had a greater effect on tilled plots. The incidence and severity of take-all were significantly higher in the wheat volunteer plots, whereas maintaining bare soil provided the lowest level of disease. Oilseed rape had no significant effect on take-all incidence in our experiment. The best candidates for reducing take-all risk appeared to be oats, mustard and ryegrass. These summer fallow crops decreased disease levels only when associated with conventional tillage. Summer fallow crops did not alter take-all decline in the same way as a break crop after a wheat monoculture.     

Variation in the effects of take-all disease on grain yield and quality of winter cereals in field experiments

Relationships between take-all intensity and grain yield and quality were determined in field experiments on cereal crops using regression analyses, usually based on single-point disease assessments made during anthesis or grain-filling. Different amounts of take-all were achieved by different methods of applying inoculum artificially (to wheat only) or by using different cropping sequences (in wheat, triticale or barley) or sowing dates (wheat only) in crops with natural inoculum. Regressions of yield or thousand-grain weight on take-all intensity during grain filling were similar to those on accumulated disease (area under the disease progress curve) when these were compared in one of the wheat experiments. Regressions of yield on take-all intensity were more often significant in wheat than in the less susceptible crops, triticale and barley, even when a wide range of disease intensities was present in the latter crops. The regressions usually had most significance when there were plots in the severe disease category. Thousand-grain weight and hectolitre weight usually responded similarly to total grain yield. Decreased yield was often accompanied by a significant increase in the percentage of small grains. When severe take-all was present in wheat, regressions showed that nitrogen uptake was usually impaired. This was sometimes accompanied, however, by increased percentage nitrogen in the grain as a consequence of smaller grain size with decreased endosperm. Significant effects of take-all, both positive and negative, on Hagberg falling number in wheat sometimes occurred. Significant regressions of yield on take-all assessed earlier than usual, ie during booting rather than grain-filling in wheat and triticale and during anthesis/grain-filling rather than ripening in barley, had steeper slopes. This is consistent with observations that severe disease that develops early can be particularly damaging, whilst the crops, especially barley, can later express tolerance by producing additional, healthy roots. The regression parameters, including maximum potential yield (y-axis intercept) and the extrapolated maximum yield loss, also varied according to the different growing conditions, including experimental treatments and other husbandry operations. These differences must be considered when assessing the economic potential of a control measure such as fungicidal seed treatment.     

Take-all of wheat

Take-all, caused by the soilborne fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, is arguably the most-studied root disease of any crop, yet remains the most important root disease of wheat worldwide. S. D. Garrett launched the study of root diseases and soilborne pathogens as an independent field of science starting in the middle of the 20th century, inspired by and based in large part on his research on take-all during the first half of the 20th century. Because there has been neither a source of host plant resistance nor an effective and economical fungicide for use against this disease, the focus for nearly a century has been on cultural and biological controls. In spite of the intensive and extensive works towards these controls, with mostly site-or soil-specific success, the only broadly and consistently effective controls require either crop rotation (break crops), or the converse, wheat monoculture to induce take-all decline. Take-all decline has become the model system for research on biological control of plant pathogens in the rhizosphere and provided the first proof to the scientific world after decades of debate that antibiotics are both produced in soils and play a role in the ecology of soil microorganisms. On the other hand, even the best yields following take-all decline are rarely equal to those achieved with crop rotation. Because of this, the continuing trends globally to shorten rather than lengthen the rotations in wheat-based cropping systems, and the growing use of direct-seed (no-till) trashy systems to reduce costs and protect soil and water resources, new methods to control take-all are needed more than ever. With high resolution maps of the genomes of cereals and other grasses now available, including a complete sequence of the rice genome, and the interesting differences as well as striking similarities among the genomes of cereals and related grasses, gene transfer to wheat from oats, rice, maize and other grass species resistant to G. graminis var. tritici should be pursued.     

Take-all in autumn-sown wheat, barley, triticale and rye grown with high and low inputs

Winter cultivars of wheat, barley, triticale and rye were grown under two contrasting husbandry systems (low and high inputs) at two locations (Woburn and Rothamsted) known to be infested with the take-all fungus. The sandy loam at Woburn is less fertile than the silty clay loam at Rothamsted. Root infection in these crops was assessed in spring and summer.
Rye was least infected by the take-all fungus, wheat the most infected and barley and triticale had intermediate levels of infection. Barley yields were less affected by take-all than those of wheat or triticale, because barley was at a later growth stage by the time severe infection occurred. Yields of wheat and barley responded most to the high-input husbandry on the less fertile soil at Woburn. On the basis of quantity of grain, triticale would appear to be a good substitute for wheat on the less fertile soil when inputs are low, but not where they are high. At Rothamsted, yields of wheat and triticale were similar in both input systems. There was no strong support, at either site, for the contention that triticale could be a useful substitute for barley where low or high inputs are used. A total of 177 isolates of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (the causal fungus of take-all) were obtained from infected roots in these experiments and tested for their pathogenicity on wheat and rye seedlings. These tests revealed a range of pathotypes with varying pathogenicities to wheat and rye, but pathogenicities were not correlated with the host plant from which the fungi were isolated.     

The effects of various crops on the survival and carry-over of the wheat take-all fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici

The effects of various crops on the saprophytic survival and carry-over of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici were studied in the glasshouse and field.
In the glasshouse, survival of G. g. tritici was greater in unplanted pots than in pots planted with either cereals or non-cereals. In the field, fallow and various non-cereal crops reduced carryover of take-all but the disease was severe after wheat, barley and triticale. Grain yields were higher after fallow and non-cereals than after cereal crops.     

Epidemiology of beet necrotic yellow vein virus in sugar beet at different initial inoculum levels in the presence or absence of irrigation: Dynamics of inoculum

Using field plots where rhizomania had not previously been detected, different inoculum levels of beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) were created by application of infested soil. A susceptible sugar beet cultivar (cv. Regina) was grown for two consecutive years (1988 and 1989), in the presence or absence of drip irrigation. In soil samples taken in spring 1989, the different initial inoculum levels of 1988 could be distinguished using a quantitative bioassay estimating most probable numbers (MPNs) of infective units per 100 g dry soil. The first sugar beet crop resulted in a tenthousandfold multiplication of inoculum of BNYVV (viruliferousPolymyxa betae). Mean MPNs of BNYVV ranged from 0.6 and 7 per 100 g soil for the lowest inoculum level to 630 and 1100 per 100 g for the highest level, in plots without and with irrigation, respectively. In spring 1990, MPNs had again increased. In both years, the initial inoculum level of 1988 had a significant linear effect on log-transformed MPNs of BNYVV determined. Log-transformed MPNs for 1990 and 1989 showed a positive linear correlation, despite a decreasing multiplication ratio at higher inoculum levels. Drip irrigation during one or two years enhanced the increase in MPN of BNYVV, which was reflected by the enhancement of multiplication ratios at all inoculum levels. The totalP. betae population was also higher after growing two irrigated crops than after growing two non-irrigated ones.     

Early stages of septoria tritici blotch epidemics of winter wheat: build‐up,overseasoning, and release of primary inoculum

Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola, is the most prevalent disease of wheat worldwide. Primary inoculum and the early stages of STB epidemics are still not fully understood and deserve attention for improving management strategies. The inoculum build‐up and overseasoning involves various fungal structures (ascospores, pycnidiospores, mycelium) and plant material (wheat seeds, stubble and debris; wheat volunteers; other grasses). Their respective importance is assessed in this review. Among the mechanisms involved in the early stages of epidemics and in the year‐to‐year disease transmission, infection by ascospores wind‐dispersed from either distant or local infected wheat debris is the most significant. Nevertheless, infection by pycnidiospores splash‐dispersed either from neighbouring wheat debris or from senescent basal leaves has also been inferred from indirect evidence. Mycosphaerella graminicola has rarely been isolated from seeds so that infected seed, although suspected as a source of primary inoculum for a long time, is considered as an epidemiologically anecdotal source. Mycosphaerella graminicola can infect a few grasses other than wheat but the function of these grasses as alternative hosts in natural conditions remains unclear. Additionally, wheat volunteers are suspected to be sources of STB inoculum for new crops. This body of evidence is summarized in a spatio‐temporal representation of a STB epidemic aimed at highlighting the nature, sources and release of inoculum in the early stages of the epidemic.     

The classification of isolates of Gaeumannomyces graminis from wheat, rye and oats using restriction fragment length polymorphisms in families of repeated DNA sequences

Isolates of the take-all fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. avenae , which affects oats, wheat and other grasses, and of G.g. var. tritici , which preferentially affects wheat, rye and barley, contain a high proportion of repeated sequences. Total DNA from 57 fungal isolates collected from many locations and different cereal hosts, and scored for virulence on wheat, rye and oats, revealed many restriction fragment length polymorphisms. These RFLP s were observed either by staining the DNA directly, by hybridization to radioactively labelled total fungal DNA , or by hybridization with labelled wheat ribosomal DNA . With only a few exceptions, the isolates with the same preferred cereal hosts showed more similar patterns of restriction fragments than isolates that had different pathogenicity properties on cereal hosts, irrespective of the geographical origins of the isolates. This was even the case for R isolates of G.g. var. tritici that were virulent on wheat and rye compared with N isolates that were virulent only on wheat. Isolates were identified by hybridizing DNA from infected root samples with ³²P-labelled total fungal DNA . The restriction fragment polymorphisms involving families of repeated sequence can therefore be used as a predictive assay for host preference of an isolate, and have probably arisen by host selection of fungal lineages. The variation between isolates in different pathogenicity groups suggests that there is little gene flow between isolates that can infect different hosts, even though they can coexist in the same field.     

Investigation of wheat as a trap crop for control of Orobanche minor

Orobanche minor is a parasitic weed that attaches to the roots of red clover (Trifolium pratense) and a number of other broad‐leaved plant species in the Pacific Northwest USA. Orobanche minor seed must be stimulated by host plant exudates for germination and attachment to occur. However, plant species called false‐hosts can stimulate parasitic seed germination without attachment. These species could be utilized as trap crops to reduce the amount of parasitic seed in infested soil. Wheat (Triticum aestivum), was found to be a false‐host of O. minor; therefore, growth chamber, glasshouse and field soil experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of six soft white winter wheats (T. aestivum), one durum wheat (Triticum turgidum), and one triticale (Triticale hexaploide) on O. minor germination. In growth chamber experiments, wheat and triticale induced 20–70% of O. minor seeds to germinate. In glasshouse studies, O. minor attachment was minimal on red clover plants grown in pots previously planted to wheat or triticale. In pots that did not receive a false‐host treatment, red clover plants averaged 4.2 O. minor attachments per plant. Red clover plants also had fewer O. minor attachments when grown in field soil taken from the plots where wheat or triticale were grown compared with plants grown in soil where no wheat or triticale were previously grown. Our results demonstrate that wheat may have the potential to be effectively integrated into an O. minor management system.     

Sensitivity of fungi from cereal roots to fluquinconazole and their suppressiveness towards take-all on plants with or without fluquinconazole seed treatment in a controlled environment

The take-all fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici , was highly sensitive to fluquinconazole ( in-vitro EC₅₀ 0·016–0·018 mg L⁻¹), a fungicide developed for use as a seed treatment to control take-all, and to prochloraz (EC₅₀ 0·006 mg L⁻¹). Fungi of other genera that were commonly isolated from cereal roots were sensitive in varying degrees to prochloraz but were relatively insensitive (e.g. Fusarium culmorum , EC₅₀ > 20 mg L⁻¹) or slightly sensitive (e.g. Epicoccum purpurascens , EC₅₀ 0·514 mg L⁻¹) to fluquinconazole. Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis and G. cylindrosporus , weak parasites that can protect roots against take-all, and an unnamed Phialophora sp., all closely related to the take-all fungus, were highly or moderately sensitive to fluquinconazole. Alternaria infectoria and E. purpurascens were most consistently effective in suppressing development of take-all on pot-grown wheat plants dual-inoculated with G. graminis var. tritici and the nonpathogen. Take-all was decreased more on dual-inoculated wheat plants grown from seed treated with fluquinconazole or fluquinconazole plus prochloraz than when only an antagonistic fungus ( A. infectoria , E. purpurascens , Fusarium culmorum or Idriella bolleyi ) or a seed treatment was applied. These fungi were less effective in combination with seed treatments on barley. Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis and G. cylindrosporus , tested on wheat, suppressed take-all only in the absence of fungicides. It is suggested that the performance of seed treatment containing fluquinconazole against take-all may in some circumstances be enhanced by its partial specificity for the take-all fungus.     

Virulence of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici from fields under short-term and long-term wheat cultivation in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.

Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici was recovered from 63% of 731 winter wheat plants collected randomly from six sites where wheat had been grown in monoculture for the previous 7–22 years. Typical take-all was not evident at the time the plants were collected. The fungus was isolated by a baiting method without regard to the presence of take-all on the plants. Isolates from fields under short-term wheat cultivation (3 years or less after a break crop) were obtained by plating directly from infected roots of plants with typical take-all. Virulent isolates comprised 89 and 99% of those collected from long- and short-term wheat cultivation respectively. There was also only a slight difference in the proportions of virulent isolates among monoascosporic subcultures from the two groups of isolates. There was thus little evidence that, during prolonged wheat cultivation, declining virulence in the population of G. graminis var. tritici could account for the absence of take-all.     

Size, shape and intensity of aggregation of take-all disease during natural epidemics in second wheat crops

Point pattern analysis (fitting of the beta-binomial distribution and binary form of power law) was used to describe the spatial pattern of natural take-all epidemics (caused by Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici ) on a second consecutive crop of winter wheat in plots under different cropping practices that could have an impact on the quantity and spatial distribution of primary inoculum, and on the spread of the disease. The spatial pattern of take-all was aggregated in 48% of the datasets when disease incidence was assessed at the plant level and in 83% when it was assessed at the root level. Clusters of diseased roots were in general less than 1 m in diameter for crown roots and 1–1·5 m for seminal roots; when present, clusters of diseased plants were 2–2·5 m in diameter. Anisotropy of the spatial pattern was detected and could be linked to soil cultivation. Clusters did not increase in size over the cropping season, but increased spatial heterogeneity of the disease level was observed, corresponding to local disease amplification within clusters. The relative influences of autonomous spread and inoculum dispersal on the size and shape of clusters are discussed.     

Effect of host and inoculum patterns on take-all disease of wheat incidence,severity and disease gradient

The importance of the spatial aspect of epidemics has been recognized from the outset of plant disease epidemiology. The objective of this study was to determine if the host spatial structure influenced the spatio-temporal development of take-all disease of wheat, depending on the inoculum spatial structure. Three sowing patterns of wheat (broadcast sowing, line sowing and sowing in hills) and three patterns of inoculum (uniform, aggregated and natural infestation) were tested in a field experiment, repeated over 2 years. Disease (severity, root disease incidence, plant disease incidence and, when applicable, line and hill incidences) was assessed seven times during the course of each season and the spatial pattern was characterized with incidence-incidence relationships. In the naturally infested plots, disease levels at all measurement scales were significantly higher in plots sown in hills, compared to plots sown in line, which were in turn significantly more diseased than plots with broadcast sowing. Disease aggregation within roots and plants was stronger in line and hill sowing than in broadcast sowing. Analysis of the disease gradient in the artificially infested plots showed that the disease intensified (local increase of disease level) more than it extensified (spatial spread of the disease), the effect of the introduced inoculum was reduced by 95% at a distance of 15 cm away from the point of infestation. Yield was not significantly affected by sowing pattern or artificial infestation.     

Application of Pseudomonas fluorescens isolates to wheat as potential biological control agents against take-all

Two isolates of Pseudomonas fluorescens (2–79 and 13–79) from the USA were evaluated in the UK as biological control agents against Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici , the cause of take-all in wheat. Biological control agents were applied as seed coatings in carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to seven wheat trials sown in 1987 and 1988 on fen peat and clay soils, and as peat-based and microgranule formulations in one of these trials. In a trial of spring wheat on fen peat, all treatments with biological control agents reduced the percentage take-all infection of crown roots and seminal roots, but the effects of only one isolate were statistically significant ( P <0·05). Effects of biological control agents on infection rates in five other trials were not significant. In the trial in which application methods were compared, peat-based inoculum initially appeared most effective but none of the treatments reduced take-all significantly throughout the season. Application of biological control agents was associated with yield increases in several trials; these were not consistently associated with effects on take-all. These results suggest that the isolates of P. fluorescens have potential to reduce take-all and increase yields of wheat in the UK, but the beneficial effects are inconsistent. There is a need to develop isolates which reliably control severe take-all in a variety of soil types.     

Enhanced field control of wheat take-all using cold tolerant isolates of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis and Phialophora sp. (lobed hyphopodia)

Cold tolerant isolates of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis ( Ggg ) and Phialophora sp. (lobed hyphopodia), which produced at least comparable growth rates at 5°C to those of pathogenic G. graminis var. tritici ( Ggt ), were shown to control take-all disease in wheat effectively in 2 years of field experiments in New South Wales, Australia. The addition of oat inoculum of these fungi at the rate of 60 kg/ha to the seeding furrow significantly ( P  ≤ 0.05) reduced disease and increased grain yields by 33–45% compared to the Ggt alone treatment. The use of 30 kg/ha of oat inoculum also significantly ( P  ≤ 0.05) reduced disease and increased grain yields by 21–44%. These high levels of take-all control were obtained consistently from four field experiments on three different soil types with different pHs. A treatment inoculated with Ggg alone showed no disease symptoms and produced grain yields similar to that of untreated wheat. This fungus is, therefore, non-pathogenic to wheat. At high rates of inoculation of Ggg and Phialophora sp. (lobed hyphopodia), 65–80% of tillering wheat plants (GS 32) had root systems colonized by these fungi. In contrast, two Pseudomonas spp. and an isolate each of Ggg and Phialophora sp. (lobed hyphopodia), which did not grow at 5°C, were ineffective in controlling take-all. Take-all assessments during heading (GS 61-83) were highly correlated ( R ²=0.6047, P ≤0.0005) with the relative yield increase or decrease of inoculated treatments compared to the Ggt alone treatment. The use of a Ggg isolate (90/3B) and a Phialophora sp. (lobed hyphopodia) isolate (KY) for take-all control has been patented. These fungi are being developed for commercial use.     

Importance of the proportion of grassy weeds within legume crops in the perpetuation of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici

Various grass species susceptible to infection by Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici were mixed-sown into a legume crop in order to assess their influence on density of inoculum and take-all disease in a subsequent crop of wheat.
In a pot experiment take-all inoculum increased ( P < 0.001) in all treatments containing a proportion (from 20 to 100%, in increments of 20%) of grass in subterranean clover. In a plot trial, most severe take-all occurred in the 20% legume/80% grass stands and least in the 100% legume and 80% legume/20% grass stands. Total grain weight was highest ( P <0.1) after the 100% legume stands. There was no difference in severity of take-all after pure stands of medic, subterranean clover and lupin, but there was more severe take-all after the grass-infested medic stands than after those of subterranean clover ( P < 0.1) or lupin ( P < 0.05). No significant differences ( P > 0.1) in yield occurred in wheat following any of the legumes or mixed stands.     

The relative resistance of wheat, rye and triticale to take-all caused by Gaeumannomyces graminis

In seven field experiments conducted over 6 years with a wide range of disease severities, triticale was intermediate in resistance to Gaeumannomyces graminis between wheat (susceptible) and rye (resistant). Use of triticale is suggested as an immediately available means of introducing take-all resistance into cereal cultivation.
Octoploid triticale was slightly more susceptible than hexaploid triticale. There was little evidence of consistent variation in resistance among wheat or rye cultivars but a few hexaploid triticale cultivars varied in resistance. The resistance of triticale was not reliably expressed in the glasshouse tests used, so selection for resistance to take-all in a breeding programme would need to be conducted in the field. Individual pairs of rye chromosomes added to wheat did not significantly reduce its susceptibility. The feasibility of transferring the resistance of rye to wheat is considered.     

Frequency, Diversity, and Activity of 2,4-Diacetylphloroglucinol-Producing Fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. in Dutch Take-all Decline Soils

ABSTRACT Natural suppressiveness of soils to take-all disease of wheat, referred to as take-all decline (TAD), occurs worldwide. It has been postulated that different microbial genera and mechanisms are responsible for TAD in soils from different geographical regions. In growth chamber experiments, we demonstrated that fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. that produce the antibiotic 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (2,4-DAPG) play a key role in the natural suppressiveness of two Dutch TAD soils. First, 2,4-DAPG-producing fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. were present on roots of wheat grown in both of the TAD soils at densities at or above the threshold density required to control take-all of wheat; in a complementary take-all conducive soil, population densities of 2,4-DAPG-producing Pseudomonas spp. were below this threshold level. Second, introduction of 2,4-DAPG-producing strain SSB17, a representative of the dominant geno-typic group found in the Dutch TAD soils, into the take-all conducive soil at population densities similar to the densities of indigenous 2,4-DAPG producers found in TAD soils provided control of take-all similar to that observed in the TAD soil. Third, a mutant of strain SSB17 deficient in 2,4-DAPG production was not able to control take-all of wheat, indicating that 2,4-DAPG is a key determinant in take-all suppression. These results show that in addition to the physicochemically different TAD soils from Washington State, 2,4-DAPG-producing fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. are also a key component of the natural suppressiveness found in Dutch TAD soils. Furthermore, it is the first time since the initial studies of Gerlagh (1968) that at least part of the mechanisms and microorganisms that operate in Dutch TAD soils are identified. Although quantitatively similar, the genotypic composition of 2,4-DAPG-producing Pseudomonas spp. varied between the Dutch TAD soils and the TAD soils from Washington State.     

Growth of seedlings of Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv. and Agrostis gigantea Roth in cereal crops

Experiments were undertaken to define the conditions under which seeds and seedlings of Agropyron repens and Agrostis gigantea may start infestations in cereal crops. When seedlings were planted early or late in spring wheat and spring barley, most growth of shoots and rhizomes was produced by Agropyron planted early in wheat. Late planting halved the amount of shoot growth and severely inhibited rhizome formation. In winter wheat given a moderate or zero amount of nitrogen fertilizer in spring, growth of the weed seedlings was slow. Rhizomes were not produced during the time the crop was growing but only after harvest. Agrostis made more growth than Agropyron in most treatments throughout most of the experiment. Late planting decreased growth more than in the spring cereals. Nitrogen fertilizer, although it had little effect on the amount of growth made by winter wheat, increased the growth of the early-planted seedlings but decreased that of the late-planted ones of both weed species. When planted into plots given nitrogen, more seedlings of both species died after late than after early planting. Clearly, the amount of growth and rhizome produced by seedlings of these two species will depend on the type of cereal, the time of emergence of the seedlings in relation to the cereal, and on other factors affecting the relative vigour of cereal and weed. Evidently, where the weed seedlings emerge early in weakly or moderately competitive cereal crops or when growth is unchecked in the cereal stubble, seedlings could give rise to infestations.     

Reservoirs of plant virus disease: Occurrence of wheat dwarf virus and barley/cereal yellow dwarf viruses in Sweden

Non-crop plants such as grasses and volunteer plants are an inseparable part of the flora of crop fields and can influence virus incidence in crop plants. The presence of grasses as virus reservoirs can lead to a higher probability of virus incidence in crop plants. However, the role of reservoirs as an inoculum source in agricultural fields has not been well studied for many viral diseases of crops. Grasses have been found to constitute potential reservoirs for cereal-infecting viruses in different parts of the world. This study revealed that cereal-infecting viruses such as wheat dwarf virus (WDV), barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDVs), and cereal yellow dwarf virus-RPV (CYDV-RPV) can be found among ryegrass growing in or around winter wheat fields. Phylogenetic analysis showed that a WDV isolate from ryegrass was a typical WDV-E isolate that infects wheat. Similarly, a ryegrass isolate of barley yellow dwarf virus-PAV (BYDV-PAV) grouped in a clade together with other BYDV-PAV isolates. Inoculation experiments under greenhouse conditions confirmed that annual ryegrass of various genotypes can be infected with WDV to a very low titre. Moreover, leafhoppers were able to acquire WDV from infected ryegrass plants, despite the low titre, and transmit the virus to wheat, resulting in symptoms. Information from the grass reservoir may contribute to improving strategies for controlling plant virus outbreaks in the field. Knowledge of the likely levels of virus in potential reservoir plants can be used to inform decisions on insect vector control strategies and may help to prevent virus disease outbreaks in the future.