Identification of Luteoviruses of Small Grains from 1981 Through 1984 by Two Methods. W. F. Rochow, Research Plant Pathologist, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Irmgard Muller, Research Support Specialist, and Laura A. Tufford and Dawn M. Smith, Research Technicians, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Plant Dis. 70:461-464. Accepted for publication 28 October 1985. 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, 1986. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-461.

From 1981 through 1984, parallel tests for variants of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) were made on 206 field-collected samples of small grains by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (EIA) with four antisera and by aphid transmission tests with four vector species. In 171 of the comparisons, results of both methods agreed; in 29, EIA resulted in more complete information than the transmission tests; and in six, transmission tests were more informative than EIA. Each BYDV isolate was identified by comparison with five previously characterized ones: PAV, MAV, SGV, RPV, and RMV. Of 211 BYDV isolates identified in 172 plants, 155 were similar to PAV, 29 were similar to RMV, 20 were similar to RPV, 4 were similar to MAV, and 3 were similar to SGV. The EIA procedure was especially useful in detecting mixed infections, which were found in 36 of the 172 infected plants.