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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #397732
Research Project: Emerging Stress Challenges and Functional Genomics of Stress Responses in Alfalfa

Location: Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory

Title: Snake River alfalfa virus, a persistent virus infecting alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in Washington State, USA

Author
item POSTNIKOVA, OLGA - Virginia Tech
item Irish, Brian
item EISENBACK, JONATHAN - Virginia Tech
item Nemchinov, Lev

Submitted to: Virology Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/14/2023
Publication Date: 2/19/2023
Citation: Postnikova, O.A., Irish, B.M., Eisenback, J., Nemchinov, L.G. 2023. Snake River alfalfa virus, a persistent virus infecting alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in Washington State, USA. Virology Journal. 20. Article 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-023-01991-7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-023-01991-7

Interpretive Summary: Alfalfa is one of the most extensively cultivated forage legumes in the world. It is currently the third most valuable field crop in the United States with an estimated worth of over $9.3 billion. Alfalfa productivity is limited by various infectious diseases that can reduce forage yield and quality and shorten stand life. The crop is frequently infected with a diverse array of pathogens that have distinct life cycles, biology, and mode of action. Among them are many co-infecting viruses that represent a ubiquitous and abundant background for all other host-pathogen interactions. In this work, we report an occurrence of so called Snake River alfalfa virus in Washington state, USA. It is expected that this study will be of interest to plant pathologists and virologists involved in research on alfalfa health and improvement in academia and government organizations.

Technical Abstract: Here we report an occurrence of Snake River alfalfa virus (SRAV) in Washington state, USA. SRAV was recently identified in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plants and western flower thrips in south-central Idaho and proposed to be a first flavi-like virus identified in a plant host. We argue that the SRAV, based on its prevalence in alfalfa plants, readily detectable dsRNA, genome structure, presence in alfalfa seeds, and seed-mediated transmission is a persistent new virus distantly resembling members of the family Endornaviridae.