Projects

Barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) is a soil-borne virus transmitted by the vector Polymyxa graminis, which can lead to drastic crop losses of up to 50%. Observations of virus symptoms and serological evidence of the virus in plants carrying resistance genes against yellow mosaic viruses have been increasing lately, suggesting the spread of new resistance-breaking virus variants. Since direct combat against the virus is not feasible, it is imperative to swiftly identify and characterize these variants to facilitate the timely development of new resistant varieties through laborious breeding processes. The objective of this two-year study is, therefore, to conduct virus characterization through trials with barley varieties with different resistance properties and to characterize new variants functionally. Due to the insufficient specificity of standard ELISA assays, a PCR assay will be developed for virus differentiation among known virus types and future expansion to new virus types. The patented Mediator Probe PCR (MP-PCR) technology will be utilized for differentiating virus types (Fig.1), some of which may only differ by a point mutation. MP-PCR also allows for precise identification of various virus types in a single analysis.