Soybean mosaic virus

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is a member of the plant virus genus Potyvirus (family Potyviridae). It infects mainly plants belonging to the family Fabaceae but has also been found infecting other economically important crops. SMV is the cause of soybean mosaic disease that occurs in all the soybean productions areas of the word. Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important sources of edible oil and proteins and pathogenic infections are responsible for annual yield losses of about $4 billion dollars in the United States. Among these pathogens, SMV is the most important and prevalent viral pathogen in soybean production worldwide. It causes yield reductions of about 8% to 35% but losses as high as 94% have been reported. The virus was first reported from Connecticut in 1915 and described in 1921. Its genome is a single stranded positive sense RNA of about 9.5kb that encodes at least 11 proteins. SMV virion is non envelope, flexuous, filamentous of about 720-800 nm long and 12-15 nm in diameter. In terms of economic damage, soybean is the most important host plant for SMV. However, plants belonging to the families Fabaceae, Amaranthaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Passifloraceae, Schrophulariaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Solanaceae, Leguminosae and Caricaceae have also been reported infected with SMV. Fabaceae has been shown to have the largest number of genera infected by SMV. Hosts differ in susceptibility depending on the viral strain and latent infection has been reported in several hosts. Symptoms are usually more obvious on young, rapidly growing leaves and are variable depending on the host genotype, virus strain, plant age at the moment of infection and the environment. Leaves are the tissue where the viral infection is localized and where the infection starts. Macroscopic symptoms can range from apparently asymptomatic plants to severely mottled and deformed leaves. Most of the infected cultivars become slightly stunted and show fewer pods that are sometimes dwarfed and flattened, without hairs and seeds. Trifoliate leaves show distinct mosaic and mottling symptoms with light and dark green areas that later can become raised or blistered along the main veins. Chlorosis has also been reported as a symptom of SMV infection especially between the dark green areas. Leaves can appear curly or waved and some cultivars show necrotic local lesions that can later merge into veinal necrosis followed by yellowing and leaf abscission. Some strains can cause severe stunting, systemic necrosis, leaf yellowing, petiole and stem necrosis, terminal necrosis and defoliation leading to the death of the plant due to systemic spread of the viral infection. Seeds can also show symptoms of viral infection with SMV showing a brown or black mottle that is thought to be associated with suppression of posttranscriptional gene silencing of chalcone synthase by a silencing suppressor protein encoded by SMV. Germination and size of the seeds is considerably reduced as compared with healthy plants seeds. Mottling does not indicate that the virus is present in seeds as not all mottled seeds contain virus and not all seeds from virus infected plants are mottled. Symptoms are sometimes hard to differentiate when temperatures are above 30 °C and can also be confused with growth regulator herbicide damage where the leaves elongate. Rugosity is most severe in plants grown in temperatures of around 18 °C, while general symptoms are less severe at 24-25 °C. Temperature also influences the incubation period and the time between infection and symptom appearance that ranges from 4 days at 29.5 °C to 14 days at 18.5 °C. Additionally, SMV appears to have a synergistic interaction with Bean Pod Mottle Virus (BPMV) as plants infected with both viruses show drastically more severe symptoms than plants infected with only one virus. The main transmission mechanism of SMV is by aphids. 32 aphid species, of 15 different genera, have been shown to transmit SMV in a non-persistent manner. The most important species in terms of efficient transmission include Acyrthosiphon pisum, Aphis fabae, A. glycines, Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum maidis. Recently, the soybean aphid (A. glycines) was introduced into North America and because of its high transmission efficiency it has caused major concern. However, it has not been shown that the presence of the aphid along with the other migrating non-colonizing aphids that transmit SMV have significantly increased SMV incidence in the region. SMV is easily transmitted mechanically when the plant is in direct contact with tools, humans or other plants. The virus moves systemically throughout the plant and can be detected in all tissues including roots.