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Etiology

Identification and Partial Characterization of a Strain of Bean Common Mosaic Virus from Rhynchosia minima. J. P. Meiners, Research Scientist, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705; A. G. Gillaspie. Jr.(2), R. H. Lawson(3), and F. F. Smith(4). (2)(3)(4)Research Scientist, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705. Phytopathology 68:283-287. Accepted for publication 30 August 1977. Copyright © 1978 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-68-283.

A virus was mechanically transmitted to bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) from Rhynchosia minima plants growing adjacent to bean plantings in Colombia. The virus produced mosaic, stunting, and leaf-curling in R. minima and symptoms in Stringless Green Refugee bean identical to those caused by bean common mosaic virus (BCMV). Based on differential host reactions, the virus is a member of BCMV strain group I. The virus is seed-transmitted in bean but not in R. minima, and is aphid-transmitted in both hosts. Virion morphology and physical properties are similar to BCMV and the virus is serologically related to BCMV. This is the first report of BCMV occurring naturally in a noncultivated host. Rhynchosia minima infected with BCMV could serve as a source of virus for infection of cultivated beans because it is a common weed adjacent to bean fields in tropical areas.