First Report of Barley Yellow Dwarf Viruses (BYDVs) on Dicotyledonous Weed Hosts in Turkey

Yellow dwarf viruses (YDVs) are economically destructive viral diseases of cereal crops, which cause the reduction of harvested yield and quality of grains. Up to now the identification of such viruses was limited to monocotyledonous Poaceae weed hosts, and was not investigated in dicotyledons. In this study, using DAS-ELISA and RT-PCR methods, 6 dicotyledonous weed species, collected from Trakya, Turkey, were examined for the presence of the YDVs pathogens BYDV-PAV, BYDV-MAV, BYDV-RMV, BYDV-SGV and CYDV-RPV. The screening tests revealed certain samples of Geranium dissectum L. and Juncus compressus Jacq. were infected with BYDV-PAV, while other samples of the same species were positive for BYDV-MAV. Additionally, RT-PCR tests of both weed species revealed cases of mixed infection by BYDV-PAV and BYDV-MAV. Transmission experiments using the aphid species Rhopalosiphum padi L. showed that BYDV-PAV was transmitted persistently from Geranium dissectum to barley cv. Barbaros seedlings. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Geranium dissectum and Juncus compressus as possible plant hosts of BYDV-PAV and BYDV-MAV in Turkey.