Ocurrencia del virus del mosaico de la caña de azúcar raza MB infectando caña de azúcar en Yaritagua, Venezuela

Abstract

A virus isolate collected in an experimental plot of sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) cv D 15841 in the Yaritagua Experimental Station, INIA-Yaracuy, was mechanically transmitted to some differential hosts for its identification. Electron microscopy revealed flexuous rods ca 765 nm long. Cytoplasmic inclusions of the pinwheel, scroll, and laminate aggregated type were observed in maize (Zea mays) cells infected with the virus. The stability in sap agreed with that of potyviruses. The agar double-diffusion, immunosorbent electron microscopy and DAS-ELISA tests evidenced that the virus was serologically closely related to Sugarcane mosaic virus strain MB (SCMV-MB). The virus was transmitted in a non-persistent manner from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) to maize by the aphid Schizaphis graminum, but was not transmitted through sorghum seeds. On the basis of these results, the virus under study was identified as SCMV-MB. This is the first report of this strain infecting sugarcane in natural conditions in Venezuela and, possibly, in the world. The species Rottboellia exaltata, Sorghum halepense, and Sorghum verticilliflorum could be useful in the detection of SCMV-MB.