VIEW ARTICLE

Etiology

Cynodon Chlorotic Streak Virus, a Previously Undescribed Plant Rhabdovirus Infecting Bermuda Grass and Maize in the Mediterranean Area. B. E. L. Lockhart, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota/Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II, B.P. 438, Agadir, Morocco; Nezha Khaless(2), Mohammed El Maataoui(3), and Ramón Lastra(4). (2)Laboratoire de Controle des Semences, INRA, Rabat, Morocco; (3)Laboratoire de Virologie, INRA, Rabat, Morocco; (4)Instituto Venezolana de Investigaciones Cientificas, Caracas, Venezuela. Phytopathology 75:1094-1098. Accepted for publication 5 April 1985. Copyright 1985 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-75-1094.

A virus first observed on maize in southern Morocco in 1974 was subsequently found to be endemic in Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) in Morocco, and occurs in Bermuda grass in France, Spain, Tunisia, and Jordan. The virus causes stunting and chlorotic streaking in both Bermuda grass and maize. The virus was not transmitted mechanically or by two cicadellid leafhoppers commonly found on C. dactylon, but was transmitted by the delphacid planthopper Toya propinqua. Virus particles in negatively stained leaf dip preparations were mainly bullet-shaped and measured approximately 72 x 240 nm. In ultrathin sections, virus particles measured 80 x 280 nm and accumulated in the perinuclear space. The virus was partially purified by differential centrifugation, and an antiserum was produced that had a homologous titer of 1/128 against undiluted infected sap in immunodiffusion tests. The virus was also detected in field samples of Bermuda grass and maize using enzyme immune assay (EIA). The virus was serologically unrelated to maize mosaic virus (MMV), cereal chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), maize sterile stunt virus (MSSV), barley yellow striate mosaic virus (BYSMV), or Festuca leaf streak virus. The name Cynodon chlorotic streak virus (CCSV) is proposed for the virus, which shares with viruses belonging to the proposed subdivision II of the plant rhabdovirus group, the property of perinuclear assembly.