Millet Could Be both a Weed and Serve as a Virus Reservoir in Crop Fields
György Pasztor,
Zsuzsanna Galbacs N.,
Tamas Kossuth,
Emese Demian,
Erzsebet Nadasy,
Andras P. Takacs,
Eva Varallyay
Affiliations
György Pasztor
Plant Protection Institute, Georgikon Faculty University of Pannonia, Deák Ferenc Street 17, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Zsuzsanna Galbacs N.
Molecular Plant Pathology Group, Agriculture Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research and Innovation Center, Szent-Gyorgyi A Street 4, 2100 Godollo, Hungary
Tamas Kossuth
Molecular Plant Pathology Group, Agriculture Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research and Innovation Center, Szent-Gyorgyi A Street 4, 2100 Godollo, Hungary
Emese Demian
Molecular Plant Pathology Group, Agriculture Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research and Innovation Center, Szent-Gyorgyi A Street 4, 2100 Godollo, Hungary
Erzsebet Nadasy
Plant Protection Institute, Georgikon Faculty University of Pannonia, Deák Ferenc Street 17, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Andras P. Takacs
Plant Protection Institute, Georgikon Faculty University of Pannonia, Deák Ferenc Street 17, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Eva Varallyay
Molecular Plant Pathology Group, Agriculture Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research and Innovation Center, Szent-Gyorgyi A Street 4, 2100 Godollo, Hungary
Millet is a dangerous weed in crop fields. A lack of seed dormancy helps it to spread easily and be present in maize, wheat, and other crop fields. Our previous report revealed the possibility that millet can also play a role as a virus reservoir. In that study, we focused on visual symptoms and detected the presence of several viruses in millet using serological methods, which can only detect the presence of the investigated pathogen. In this current work, we used small RNA high-throughput sequencing as an unbiased virus diagnostic method to uncover presenting viruses in randomly sampled millet grown as a volunteer weed in two maize fields, showing stunting, chlorosis, and striped leaves. Our results confirmed the widespread presence of wheat streak mosaic virus at both locations. Moreover, barley yellow striate mosaic virus and barley virus G, neither of which had been previously described in Hungary, were also identified. As these viruses can cause severe diseases in wheat and other cereals, their presence in a weed implies a potential infection risk. Our study indicates that the presence of millet in fields requires special control to prevent the emergence of new viral diseases in crop fields.
