Plant Viruses in Rivers and Lakes

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses observations on the possible origin and state of occurrence of plant viruses in environmental waters and evidence for the epidemiological importance of waters for the spread of plant viruses, especially of those which lack aerial vectors but are often highly infectious and very stable. It also describes methods for recovering plant viruses from water samples. The majority of the viruses that have so far been identified belong to groups of viruses that share a number of properties: they lack an aerial vector that would ensure their spread over long distances, they are reproduced in infected plants in high concentrations and are released abundantly from infected roots, they are very stable, they can infect plants via the roots without the aid of a vector, they often have a wide host range, and once established in a plant they readily spread to neighboring plants by mechanical contact or again by soil transmission. Another means of long-distance spread of these viruses under natural conditions may be the ingestion by moving animals and men.