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Research ArticleArticles

Possible Role Of Fungal Viruses in the Distribution and Spread Of the Dutch Elm Disease Fungus

P. Lawrence Pusey and Charles L. Wilson
Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (AUF) September 1981, 7 (9) 230-232; DOI: https://doi.org/10.48044/joa.1981.7.9.230
P. Lawrence Pusey
Graduate Research Associate, and Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-SEA/AR, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, Ohio
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Charles L. Wilson
Graduate Research Associate, and Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-SEA/AR, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, Ohio
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Abstract

Double-stranded RNA, which is characteristic of fungal viruses, has been detected previously in isolates of Ceratocystis ulmi. Isolates from states with a long history of Dutch elm disease contained dsRNA, whereas isolates from states with a short history of the disease had no dsRNA. It is suggested that fungal viruses may be a factor in the distribution and spread of C. ulmi.

It has become apparent in recent years that the occurrence of viruses in fungi (mycoviruses) is widespread. Such viruses may affect the distribution and severity of certain fungal diseases.

Hypovirulent (believed to be virus-infected) strains of the chestnut blight fungus, Endothia parasitica, can protect trees against virulent (virus-free) strains (5, 12). The hypovirulent strains contain double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) which is the genetic information of most fungal viruses, and this dsRNA is transmitted to the virulent strains by hyphal anastomosis (3). Recently virus-like particles were found associated with the dsRNA in at least one hypovirulent strain of E. parasitica (4). It appears that dsRNA or a dsRNA virus in Italy has protected stands of European chestnut against chestnut blight, changing virulent strains of E. parasitica into hypovirulent ones (1,8, 11).

We discovered that dsRNA is contained in some isolates of the Dutch elm disease (DED) fungus Ceratocystis ulmi (Buis.) Moreau and that the dsRNA appears to affect its pathogenicity (9 and Pusey and Wilson, unpublished). We wondered whether the dsRNA has affected or is affecting the natural spread of DED in the United States. So we tried to determine whether the presence of dsRNA in our C. ulmi isolates was related to the length of time disease had been present in the states where those isolates were collected (Table 1, Fig. 1). We assumed that more aggressive isolates could spread faster than less aggressive ones. If this should be true, and if viruses contributed to the lower pathogenicity of less aggressive isolates, then more virus-free isolates should be found in states where the disease has been present for a “short time” than in states where it has been present for a “long time.”

Fig. 1.
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Fig. 1.

Comparison of the distribution of Dutch elm disease (DED) in the United States before and after 1955 and with the distribution of dsRNA in Ceratocystis ulmi.

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Table 1.

Comparison of years when Dutch elm disease was first discovered in states of the United States with the number of dsRNA components detected in Ceratocystis ulmi isolates from those states.

The results of this study seem to support our idea. Isolates from states with the longest history of DED contained dsRNA. Except for isolate VA, all isolates from states where DED was unknown prior to 1955 contained no dsRNA.

Given an east to west spread, Colorado seems out of place on the distribution map (Fig. 1) with its report of DED earlier than reports for states eastward, including Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Dutch elm disease was discovered in several areas of Denver in 1948 (10), but was not found again in Colorado until 1968 (7). Interestingly, one of the Colorado isolates (CO2) contained 5 dsRNA components which banded in polyacrylamide gels in a pattern identical to that exhibited by one of the Massachusetts isolates (MA2) (9). The Tennessee isolate (TN) had a similar banding pattern for 5 dsRNA species, although it had two additional dsRNA components not detected in MA2 and CO2. It can be speculated that a C. ulmi strain containing dsRNA was introduced (perhaps via man’s activities rather than natural spread) into Colorado before or during 1948 from some area in the eastern half of the United States and persisted unnoticed because of its lower pathogenicity.

Our findings although not conclusive present a new factor that should be considered in the spread and distribution of Dutch elm disease.

Footnotes

  • ↵1 Approved for publication as Journal Article No. 181-80 of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster 44691.

  • ↵2 Former Graduate Research Associate, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster. Present address: USDA-SEA/AR, Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, West Virginia 25430.

  • ↵3 Former Research Plant Pathologist, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster. Present address: USDA-SEA/AR, Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, West Virginia 25430.

  • © 1981, International Society of Arboriculture. All rights reserved.

Literature Cited

  1. 1.↵
    1. Bonifacio, A., and
    2. T. Turchetti
    . Difference morphologiche efisologiche in isolate di Endothia parasitica (Murr.) And. Accademia Italiana di Scienze Forestall 2:111-131.
  2. 2.
    1. Davis. D.D.
    1970. Distribution of Dutch elm disease in the United States. Plant Dis. Rep. 54:929-930.
    OpenUrl
  3. 3.↵
    1. Day. P.R.,
    2. J.A. Dodds,
    3. J.E. Elliston,
    4. R.A. Jaynes, and
    5. S.L. Anagnostakis
    . 1977. Double-stranded RNA in Endothia parasitica. Phytopathology 67:1393-1396.
    OpenUrl
  4. 4.↵
    1. Dodds, J.A.
    1978. Double-stranded RNA apd virus-like particles Endothia parasitica. Pages 108-110 in: Proc. American Chestnut Symposium, 4-5 January, W. Va. Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn. and USDA. 122 pp.
  5. 5.↵
    1. Grente, J.
    1965. Les formes hypovirulentes d’Endothia parasitica et les espoirs de lutte contre le chancre du Chataignier. C.R. Seances Acad. Agric. Fr. 51:1033-1037.
    OpenUrl
  6. 6.
    1. Holmes, F.W.
    1962. Recorded Dutch elm disease distribution in North America as of 1961. Plant Dis. Rep. 46-715-718.
    OpenUrl
  7. 7.↵
    1. Lant, J.G.,
    2. N. Oshima, and
    3. L.E. Dickens
    . 1969. The recurrence of Dutch elm disease in Colorado. Plant Dis. Rep. 53:253.
    OpenUrl
  8. 8.↵
    1. Mittempergher, L.
    1978. The present status of chestnutblight. Pages 34-37 in: Proc. American Chestnut Symposium, 4-5 January, W. Va. Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn. and USDA. 122 pp.
  9. 9.↵
    1. Pusey, P.L., and
    2. C.L. Wilson
    . 1979. Double-stranded RNA in Ceratocystis ulmi. (Abstr.) Phytopathology 69:542.
    OpenUrl
  10. 10.↵
    1. Thomas, W.D.,
    2. G.M. List,
    3. M.E. Michaelson, and
    4. W.D. Buchanan
    . 1948. Dutch elm disease in Colorado. Plant Dis. Rep. 32:317.
    OpenUrl
  11. 11.↵
    1. Turchetti, T.
    1978. Some observations on the “hypovirulence” of chestnut blight in Italy. Pages 92-94 in: Proc. American Chestnut Symposium, 4-5 January, W. Va. Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn. and USDA. 122 pp.
  12. 12.↵
    1. Van Alfen, N.K.,
    2. R.A. Jaynes,
    3. S.L. Anagnostakis, and
    4. P.R. Day
    . 1975. Chestnut blight: biological control by transmissible hypovirulence in Endothia parasitica. Science 189:890-891.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  13. 13.
    1. Whitten, R.R., and
    2. R.V. Swingle
    . 1964. Dutch elm disease and its control. USDA Inf. Bull. No. 193.
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September 1981
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Possible Role Of Fungal Viruses in the Distribution and Spread Of the Dutch Elm Disease Fungus
P. Lawrence Pusey, Charles L. Wilson
Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (AUF) Sep 1981, 7 (9) 230-232; DOI: 10.48044/joa.1981.7.9.230

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Possible Role Of Fungal Viruses in the Distribution and Spread Of the Dutch Elm Disease Fungus
P. Lawrence Pusey, Charles L. Wilson
Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (AUF) Sep 1981, 7 (9) 230-232; DOI: 10.48044/joa.1981.7.9.230
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