Yield losses caused by virus infection in four combinations of non-persistently aphid-transmitted virus and cool-season crop legume

Abstract

Field experiments provided quantitative information on the yield losses caused by virus infection within 4 different combinations of non-persistently aphid-transmitted virus and cool-season crop legume: Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) in chickpea, faba bean and lentil, and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in lentil. Virus infection foci were introduced into plots and naturally occurring aphids spread infection from these to the other plants. Plants were tagged individually when typical virus symptoms first appeared during the growing period. Paired plant comparisons between symptomatic and asymptomatic plants were made to measure different yield loss parameters. Late infection with AMV in faba bean cv. Fiord diminished shoot dry weight by 41% and seed yield by 45%, but plants infected earlier recovered sufficiently from their initial shock reaction not to produce significant yield losses. In plants of lentil cv. Matilda first showing symptoms at different times, infection with AMV decreased shoot dry weight by 74–76%, seed yield by 81–87% and individual seed weight by 10–21%, while CMV diminished shoot dry weight by 72–81%, seed yield by 80–90% and individual seed yield by 17–25%. Early infection with AMV killed plants of chickpea cv. Tyson while later infection decreased shoot dry weight by 50%, seed yield by 98% and individual seed weight by 90%. The first tentative evidence for seed transmission of AMV in faba bean is reported with a transmission rate of 0.04%.