Prospective Alternate Hosts of an Emerging Polerovirus in Cotton Landscapes in the Southeastern United States

Sudeep Pandey; Sudeep Bag; Phillip Roberts; Kassie Conner; Kipling S Balkcom; Andrew J Price; Alana L Jacobson; Rajagopalbabu Srinivasan

doi:10.3390/v14102249

Prospective Alternate Hosts of an Emerging Polerovirus in Cotton Landscapes in the Southeastern United States

Viruses. 2022 Oct 13;14(10):2249. doi: 10.3390/v14102249.

Authors

Sudeep Pandey¹, Sudeep Bag², Phillip Roberts³, Kassie Conner⁴, Kipling S Balkcom⁵, Andrew J Price⁵, Alana L Jacobson⁶, Rajagopalbabu Srinivasan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223, USA.
² Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, 2360 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793, USA.
³ Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, 2360 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793, USA.
⁴ Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University, 961 S. Donahue Dr., Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
⁵ USDA, ARS, Soil Dynamics Research, 411 S. Donahue Dr., Auburn, AL 36832, USA.
⁶ Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, 310 Funchess Hall, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.

Abstract

The identification of alternate hosts that can act as virus inoculum sources and vector reservoirs in the landscape is critical to understanding virus epidemics. Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is a serious pathogen in cotton production and is transmitted by the cotton/melon aphid, Aphis gossypii, in a persistent, circulative, and non-propagative manner. CLRDV was first reported in the United States in Alabama in 2017, and thereafter in several cotton-producing states. CLRDV has since established itself in the southeastern United States. The role of alternate hosts in CLRDV establishment is not clear. Fourteen common plant species in the landscape, including crops, weeds, and ornamentals (cotton, hollyhock, marshmallow, country mallow, abutilon, arrowleaf sida, okra, hibiscus, squash, chickpea, evening primrose, henbit, Palmer amaranth, and prickly sida) were tested as potential alternate hosts of CLRDV along with an experimental host (Nicotiana benthamiana) via aphid-mediated transmission assays. CLRDV was detected following inoculation in hibiscus, okra, N. benthamiana, Palmer amaranth, and prickly sida by RT-PCR, but not in the others. CLRDV accumulation determined by RT-qPCR was the highest in N. benthamiana compared with cotton and other hosts. However, aphids feeding on CLRDV-infected prickly sida, hibiscus, and okra alone were able to acquire CLRDV and back-transmit it to non-infected cotton seedlings. Additionally, some of the alternate CLRDV hosts supported aphid development on par with cotton. However, in a few instances, aphid fitness was reduced when compared with cotton. Overall, this study demonstrated that plant hosts in the agricultural landscape can serve as CLRDV inoculum sources and as aphid reservoirs and could possibly play a role in the reoccurring epidemics of CLRDV in the southeastern United States.

Keywords: Aphis gossypii; CLRDV; inoculum sources; vector reservoirs; virus transmission.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Aphids*
Gossypium
Luteoviridae* / genetics
Nicotiana
Prospective Studies
United States

Grants and funding

This project was financially supported by the Georgia Commodity Commission for Cotton awarded to Georgia and by Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 58-6010-0-011 and Hatch project AL-1021180 awarded to Alabama.