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How virulent are emerging maize-infecting mastreviruses?
Kehinde A Oyeniran1, Penelope Hartnady1, Sohini Claverie2,3
1Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa.
Archives of Virology
|January 27, 2021
Summary
Maize streak disease (MSD) is a major threat to African maize production. While MSV/C and MSRV viruses were found in diseased plants, they alone do not cause severe MSD, suggesting other factors may be involved.
Area of Science:
- Plant Virology
- Agricultural Science
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Maize streak disease (MSD) significantly impacts maize production in Africa.
- Maize streak virus/A (MSV/A) was the primary known cause of severe MSD.
- Other mastreviruses, MSV/C and maize streak Réunion virus (MSRV), are increasingly found in severe MSD cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the pathogenicity of MSV/C and MSRV in causing severe MSD.
- To determine if MSV/C and MSRV can cause severe MSD independently or in mixed infections.
Main Methods:
- Generation of infectious clones for MSV/C and MSRV.
- Inoculation of MSD-sensitive maize genotypes with cloned viruses.
- Observation and comparison of disease symptoms in controlled experiments versus field observations.
Main Results:
- Infectious clones of MSV/C and MSRV caused systemic infections in maize.
- Symptoms induced by cloned MSV/C and MSRV were milder than field-observed severe MSD.
- Mixed infections with mild MSV strains also resulted in mild MSD symptoms.
Conclusions:
- MSV/C and MSRV isolates examined are unlikely to be sole causative agents of severe MSD.
- MSRV symptoms share similarities with field symptoms, suggesting a potential contributing role.
- Further research is needed to understand the role of MSV/C and MSRV in emerging severe MSD.
