New hosts of Potato virus Y (PVY) among common wild plants in Europe

The infection capacity of Potato virus Y (PVY, genus Potyvirus) for wild-living plants, commonly occurring as arable weeds in Europe and native to or naturalised in other continents, was evaluated. In total, 3,712 and 802 seedlings representing 21 weed species were aphid and sap-inoculated with PVY, respectively. Experimentally-inoculated plants of Erodium cicutarium, Geranium pusillum, Lactuca serriola and Lamium purpureum tested positive by ELISA, but they did not display any disease symptoms. The presence of PVY in selected plants of the four species was confirmed by back-inoculations to Nicotiana tabacum and by immunocapture-reverse transcription-PCR performed on samples taken from weed and/or tobacco plants. Natural PVY infection in plants of the four wild species collected in the potato-growing area was detected by ELISA and confirmed by back-inoculations to tobacco plants. This study is believed to be the first report of PVY infection in E. cicutarium, G. pusillum and L. purpureum. Moreover, our findings reveal for the first time PVY infection in L. serriola in central Europe.