The role of weeds in the epidemiology of pospiviroids |
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| Authors: | N Van Bogaert G Smagghe K De Jonghe |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Crop Protection, Faculty Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;2. Plant Sciences Unit – Crop Protection, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Merelbeke, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | Many weeds that are closely associated with horticultural activities are known as natural reservoirs of plant viruses. However, whether these weeds can also serve as hosts of pospiviroids is not well known. Pospiviroids are naked, non‐coding RNA pathogens that cause severe economic damage in many solanaceous crops. In this study, we examined the overall risk of pospiviroid spreading from weeds to economically important crops, by combining the results from previous inoculation studies with new results coming from a survey, a contact experiment and an inoculation experiment. A survey of commercial ornamental glasshouses revealed that ornamental plants mainly belonging to the Solanaceae harbour pospiviroids, in contrast to weed species sampled in the same places. No new weed hosts could be identified after testing weeds that grew in contact with Tomato apical stunt viroid (TASVd)‐infected plants of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and jasmine nightshade (Solanum jasminoides) in an experimental glasshouse. Finally, in mechanical inoculation experiments with TASVd, none of the six tested weed species were determined to be a host at 6 weeks after inoculation. Commonly occurring weed species therefore do not appear to play a significant role as reservoir hosts for pospiviroids. This does not rule out other potential weed hosts that have not yet been tested. Inoculation studies should include rigorous experimental protocols with a sufficient number of replicated as well as adequate positive controls. The information gained through this study may prove useful in future risk assessments for the pospiviroid group. |
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| Keywords: |
Pospiviroidae
ornamental plants mechanical inoculation biolistic inoculation natural reservoirs risk assessment
Tomato apical stunt viroid
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