First report of wheat stripe mosaic virus in Paraguay

Soil-borne viruses transmitted by Polymyxa graminis can lead to major yield losses in wheat crops worldwide. This work describes the identification of a soil-borne virus infecting wheat plants in Paraguay. Based on electron microscopy observations of virus particles in symptomatic leaf and molecular assays the virus was identified as wheat stripe mosaic virus (WhSMV). To our knowledge, this is the first report of WhSMV in Paraguay.