Distribution of Bean Pod Mottle Virus in Soybeans in Kentucky. S. A. Ghabrial, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40546. D. E. Hershman, D. W. Johnson, and D. Yan. Department of Plant Pathology, Department of Entomology, and Department of Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40546. Plant Dis. 74:132-134. Accepted for publication 25 August 1989. Copyright 1990 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-74-0132.

A survey of bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) incidence in soybeans in Kentucky was carried out during the 1985 through 1987 seasons. An ELISA method based on detecting BPMV in extracts from bulked samples of the bean leaf beetle, the vector of BPMV, was used to predict virus incidence in the soybean fields from which beetles were collected. For this survey, beetles were collected from 382 fields in 28 counties in western Kentucky. The results showed BPMV to be widespread in soybeans in those counties; it was detected in about 66% of the soybean fields surveyed. Virus distribution patterns varied with the county; some counties had consistently low virus incidence, others had consistently high incidence. In general, virus incidence was higher in 1987 than the preceding 2 yr.