First Report of Beet necrotic yellow vein virus Infecting Spinach in California

In 2009, plants from two spinach (Spinacia oleracea) experimental fields in Monterey County and one commercial spinach field in Ventura County of California exhibited vein-clearing, mottling, interveinal yellowing, and stunting symptoms. For experimental fields, up to 44% of spinach plants have symptoms. With a transmission electron microscope, rigid rod-shaped particles with central canals were observed from plant sap of the symptomatic spinach. Analysis with a double-antibody sandwich-ELISA assay for Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) showed that all 10 symptomatic plants we tested were positive and 5 asymptomatic plants were negative. Symptomatic spinach from both counties was used for mechanical transmission experiments. Chenopodium quinoa, Tetragonia expansa, and Beta vulgaris (sugar beet) showed chlorotic local lesions and B. macrocarpa and spinach showed vein-clearing, mottling, and systemic infections. To further confirm the presence of BNYVV, reverse transcription (RT)-PCR was conducted. Total RNA was extracted from field- and mechanically inoculated symptomatic spinach plants using an RNeasy Plant Kit (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, CA) and used as a template in RT-PCR. Forward and reverse primers specific to the BNYVV RNA-3 P25 protein gene from the beet isolate were used (2). Amplicons of the expected size (approximately 860 bp) were obtained. Four RT-PCR products were sequenced and the sequences were identical (GenBank Accession No. GU135626). Sequences from the spinach plants had 97 to 99% nucleotide and 94 to 100% amino acid identity with BNYVV RNA-3 P25 protein sequences available in the GenBank. On the basis of the data from electron microscopy, indicator plants, serology, and cDNA sequencing, the virus was identified as BNYVV. BNYVV has been reported from spinach fields in Italy (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of BNYVV occurring naturally on spinach in California. Since BNYVV is transmitted by the zoospores of the soil-inhabiting plasmodiophorid Polymyxa betae, it could be a new threat to spinach production in the state. References: (1) C. R. Autonell et al. Inf. Fitopatol. 45:43, 1995. (2) H.-Y. Liu and R. T. Lewellen, Plant Dis. 91:847, 2007.