Pea Seed-borne Mosaic Virus Detected in One Seed Lot from Mountrail County (05/19/16)
Pea Seed-borne Mosaic Virus (PSbMV) is a
viral disease that can cause substantial yield and quality losses in lentils and peas and can also infect chickpeas, faba beans and vetches. Plant symptoms include stunting, pod and leaf deformation, and delayed maturation (Fig 1. top). Seeds may be smaller, and discolored with split seed coats (Fig. 1 bottom). As the name implies the virus can infect the seed and when this seed is planted the virus can spread into the plant. The transmission rate from seed to plant is on average 30% in peas and 44% in lentils. Aphid feeding transmits the virus from infected plants to new hosts during the growing season. Therefore, planting infected seed and high aphid populations put you at the greatest risk for PSbMV.
As part of a NW ND pulse scouting project funded by the Northern Pulse Growers Association, Taheni Jbir (Crop Scout, NDSU WREC) and Dr. Audrey Kalil (Plant Pathologist, NDSU WREC) collected pea and lentil samples from growers in Williams, Divide, Mountrail, McKenzie and Burke Counties.
A total of 10 lentil and 18 pea samples
were collected and analyzed by the NDSU Plant Diagnostic Lab for PSbMV (Fig 2). Low levels of PSbMV were detected in a single pea seed lot from Mountrail County, all other lots were negative for the virus. These results, from a limited number of seed lots, suggest that overall levels of PSbMV in planted seed may be low in NW ND; however, it remains important to scout for aphids weekly up through pod development as this virus can be transmitted very rapidly under high aphid pressure.
Remember that PSbMV infected seed should not be saved and as infected seed may be symptomless, it is recommended to get seed tested for this disease. To submit your seed for testing contact the NDSU Plant Diagnostic Lab https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pdl
For more information on PSbMV and management options see the NDSU publication Pea Seed-borne Mosaic Virus (PSbMV) in Field Peas and Lentils (PP1704).
