Beet Western Yellows Virus in Illinois Vegetable Crops and Weeds. E. L. Timmerman, Research Assistant, Department of Horticulture, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. Cleora J. D’Arcy, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, and W. E. Splittstoesser, Professor, Department of Horticulture, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. Plant Dis. 69:933-936. Accepted for publication 12 March 1985. Copyright 1985 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-69-933.

Beet western yellows virus (BWYV) occurs in a wide range of crop and weed hosts throughout Illinois. Volunteer turnip greens and spinach crops and chickweed are overwintering hosts of BWYV in the East St. Louis area and may be sources of inoculum for spring crops. BWYV was detected in spring 1983 crops after aphids were sighted and eventually infected 80% of the turnip greens and 33% of the spinach tested. Green bell peppers and redroot pigweed are summer hosts of BWYV and may be sources of inoculum for fall-planted turnip greens and spinach. High background levels in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from some weeds suggest that ELISA results be verified by other methods, such as transmission, when screening a wide range of plants.