Open AccessDry matter yield and the prevalence of barley yellow dwarf and ryegrass mosaic viruses in old and young perennial ryegrass
Author(s) -
Maxine Farquhar,
Christopher Winefield,
Colin Eady
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of new zealand grasslands
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 2463-2880
pISSN - 2463-2872
DOI - 10.33584/jnzg.2017.79.571
Subject(s) - perennial plant , barley yellow dwarf , biology , tiller (botany) , agronomy , lolium perenne , dry matter , pasture , virus , plant virus , virology
Abstract Modern pasture management of perennial ryegrass results in reduced reseeding and increased reliance on asexual tiller multiplication. This may exacerbate viral impact by providing longer-living hosts to exploit, thus the effect of ryegrass age on sward performance and viral load was investigated. Genetically similar 10 year old field plants and 10 year old seed were used to produce 'mini-swards' of 'old' (tiller derived) and 'young' (seed derived) ryegrass lines. Dry matter yield and viral load (ryegrass mosaic, and barley yellow dwarf) were assessed over 10 months. For all lines the old mini-swards produced less biomass (4-29%) and viral load was significantly greater at most time points. Cause and effect between viral load and yield were not proven as other factors such as genetic drift, epigenetics, or other latent pests or diseases could not be ruled out. Keywords: Lolium perenne, barley yellow dwarf virus, ryegrass mosaic virus