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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Frederick, Maryland » Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #259561
Title: Acquistion and transmissibility of United States Soybean dwarf virus isolates by the soybean aphid Aphis glycines

Author
item Damsteegt, Vernon
item Stone, Andrew
item KUHLMANN, MICKI - University Of Maryland
item GILDOW, FRED - Pennsylvania State University
item Domier, Leslie
item Sherman, Diana
item TIAN, BIN - Pennsylvania State University
item Schneider, William

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/2/2010
Publication Date: 8/1/2011
Citation: Damsteegt, V.D., Stone, A.L., Kuhlmann, M., Gildow, F.E., Domier, L.L., Sherman, D.J., Tian, B., Schneider, W.L. 2011. Acquistion and transmissibility of United States Soybean dwarf virus isolates by the soybean aphid Aphis glycines. Plant Disease. 95: 945-950.

Interpretive Summary: Soybean dwarf (SbDV) is a plant disease that causes the stunting and yellowing of soybeans. The disease was originally found in Japan, but also exists in the United States where it is most commonly found infecting clover. SbDV is carried and spread from plant to plant by insects called aphids. Recently the soybean aphid was introduced to the United States. The soybean aphid is the only species of aphid that can successfully live and reproduce on soybean. Previous reports from Japan indicated that the soybean aphid either would not spread SbDV, or was very poorly suited to spread the disease. To determine the risk of the soybean aphid spreading SbDV in the US, we tested the ability of the soybean aphid to spread SbDV isolates that had been collected from several locations in the United States and around the world. We showed that SbDV from the United States could be spread by the soybean aphid, but SbDV from Japan and New Zealand was not spread by the soybean aphid. The soybean aphid was not very good at spreading the US isolates, but the efficiency of spread was dramatically increased when the soybean aphid was allowed to feed on infected plants followed by healthy plants for long periods of time. An assay was developed to determine how much SBDV was acquired by feeding aphids. This assay determined that the amount of virus that the aphid picked up from infected plants was related to the efficiency of that aphid spreading the disease. This paper represents important findings that there are SbDV isolates in the US that are spread by the soybean aphid, which presents a potential threat to US soybean production.

Technical Abstract: Soybean dwarf virus (SbDV) exists as several distinct strains based on symptomatology, vectors, and host range. Original Japanese isolates of SbDV were specifically transmitted by Aulacorthum solani. More recently Japanese isolates, other exotic isolates, and endemic U.S. isolates have been shown to be transmitted by several different aphids. The soybean aphid Aphis glycines, the only aphid that colonizes on soybean, has been shown to be a very inefficient vector of some SbDV isolates from Japan and the U.S. Extensive transmission experiments have shown that some populations of the soybean aphid can transmit certain isolates from soybean to soybean and clover and from clover to clover and soybean if acquisition and inoculation access times are extended. The epidemiological potential of the soybean aphid to cause serious SbDV losses in U.S. soybeans is discussed.