Analysis of the accumulation of Pea enation mosaic virus genomes in seed tissues and lack of evidence for seed transmission in pea (Pisum sativum)

Abstract

Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) is an important virus disease of pea. International movement of commercial pea cultivars and germplasm can be problematic due to uncertainty about seed transmission of the viruses responsible for the disease. Whether PEMV is seedborne was assessed by collecting developing seed from infected plants and determining the relative concentrations of the PEMV-1 and PEMV-2 viral genomes using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The relative accumulation of PEMV-1 and PEMV-2 was approximately 1,240 and 13,000 times higher, respectively, in leaf than in embryo tissues. Accumulation of PEMV-1 and PEMV-2 RNA was also significantly higher in pod walls and seed coats than in cotyledons or embryo axes. No evidence was obtained for seed transmission of PEMV in pea. Although PEMV-1 and PEMV-2 genomic RNAs were found in developing seed, no PEMV symptoms were observed in the field on more than 50,000 plants from seed derived from PEMV-infected source plants. These data demonstrate that PEMV is seedborne in pea but do not support a previous report that PEMV is seed transmitted. Absence of seed transmission may result from the low abundance of PEMV viral genomes in embryo tissue.