VIEW ARTICLE

Ecology and Epidemiology

Taxonomic Distribution of Native Mississippi Grass Species Susceptible to Maize Dwarf Mosaic and Sugarcane Mosaic Viruses. Eugen Rosenkranz, Research plant pathologist, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Science, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State 39762; Phytopathology 70:1056-1061. Accepted for publication 27 March 1980. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1980. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-70-1056.

A systematic collection of 100 grass species, which represents 50 genera, 13 tribes, and all six subfamilies of the Gramineae occurring naturally in Mississippi, was tested for reaction to maize dwarf mosaic virus strains A (MDMV-A) and B (MDMV-B) and sugarcane mosaic virus B (SCMV-B). These grasses included 76 hosts (56 of them new) of MDMV-A, MDMV-B, or SCMV-B. Of the 76 host species, belonging to 40 genera, 71 were susceptible to MDMV-A, 62 were susceptible to MDMV-B, and 58 were susceptible to SCMV-B. The three virus strains infected 50 of the same species; 24 grasses were immune to all three viruses and represent new nonhosts. The following 12 genera are reported for the first time to contain host species of MDMV or SCMV: Brachyelytrum, Chasmanthium, Dichanthelium, Distichlis, Eremochloa, Gymnopogon, Imperata, Leptoloma, Manisuris, Microstegium, Oplismenus, and Sacciolepis. Susceptible species were found in five of the six subfamilies. The subfamilies Panicoideae and Festucoideae contained the highest and the lowest percentage of host species, respectively. The greatest differences in the host ranges of MDMV and SCMV were observed in the subfamily Eragrostoideae (Chlorideae). Several new perennial hosts with extensive distribution in the USA are suggested as potential overwintering hosts of MDMV-B. With the addition of the new hosts, there are now 251 grass species reported to be hosts of MDMV and 197 grass species reported as hosts of SCMV.