Effects of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus on Root Growth in Spring Oat. F. L. Kolb, Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. N. K. Cooper, A. D. Hewings, E. M. Bauske, and R. H. Teyker. Former Undergraduate Student, Department of Agronomy, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS, Department of Plant Pathology, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, and Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. Plant Dis. 75:143-145. Accepted for publication 5 July 1990. 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, 1991. DOI: 10.1094/PD-75-0143.

The effects of a nonspecifically transmitted strain of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV-PAV-IL) on root growth of four spring oat (Avena sativa) genotypes differing in BYDV tolerance were compared. Plants of each genotype were grown in a growth chamber using an aeroponic system. Half of the plants in each of two experiments were used as controls, and half were inoculated at the two- to three-leaf stage (Zadoks stage 12 or 13). For all four genotypes, the rate of root elongation was greater for control plants than for inoculated plants. When control and inoculated plants were compared, most parameters measured were reduced in inoculated plants in three of the genotypes, but the fourth genotype, Ogle, had a significant reduction only in root dry weight and rate of root elongation.