Identification of Barley Yellow Striate Mosaic Virus in Morocco and Its Field Detection by Enzyme Immune Assay

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Abstract
Barley yellow striate mosaic virus (BYSMV), a member of the plant rhabdovirus group and previously reported only from Italy and France, was identified in all major cereal-growing areas of Morocco in surveys conducted during 1983-1985. BYSMV occurred on bread, wheat, durum wheat, barley, and oats [Triticum aestivum, T. durum, Hordeum vulgare and Avena sativa, respectively] and was transmitted to sweet corn [Zea mays] but not to field corn. Symptoms ranged from fine, broken chlorotic striations to complete chlorosis and plant death. Bacilliform virus particles were observed in leaf-dip preparations and in ultrathin sections (58 .times. 330 nm in situ) from infected plants and accumulated within the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum and occasionally in the perinuclear space between the inner and outer nuclear membranes. The virus was transmitted experimentally by the delphacid plant hoppers Toya propinqua and Laodelphax striatellus. No differences were found, in immunodiffusion tests, between antisera to Moroccan and Italian BYSMV isolates. Moroccan BYSMV (BYSMV-M) was also related serologically to maize sterile stunt and northern cereal mosaic viruses, to delphacid-transmitted plant rhabdoviruses occurring in Australia and Japan, respectively. Dot-EIA on nitrocellulose membranes was 30 times as sensitive as double-antibody sandwich microplate assay for detecting BYSMV-M in field samples.