Abstract
Sugarcane cultivars with a high (susceptible cultivars) and low (resistant cultivars) virus titer of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus were grown in the field. The carbohydrate composition in green leaf tops and in stems was determined. In RT-PCR of leaf extracts, susceptible cultivars had a high SCYLV-titer, whereas resistant cultivars had a very low titer. The cultivars differed in biomass yield, but these differences were not correlated with susceptibility. However, carbohydrate composition did have susceptibility-specific differences. Hexose levels were lower in green leaf tops and stalks of susceptible (strongly infected) cultivars than in those of resistant (weakly infected) cultivars. The stalks of susceptible cultivars also had less starch than those of resistant cultivars. Thus, the viral susceptibility (and infection) affected sugar metabolism. In addition, a positive correlation between hexose and starch in stems and between hexose and sucrose in green leaf tops was observed. The results from susceptible versus resistant cultivars were the opposite of those in the comparison between infected versus virus-free lines of the same cultivar. The breeding process apparently had unintentionally selected clones with modulated carbohydrate metabolism to avoid or compensate for the adverse effects of SCYLV infection.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the field workers of the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center for their help and to the staff of the analytical lab for standard sugar determinations. Thanks to Alberto Bertolini, University Udine, who participated in the in situ starch determination project. This work was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and by Deutscher Akademischer Austauchdienst, which supported Yan Shih-Long, Alberto Bertolini and Blanca Fontaniella.
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Lehrer, A., Yan, SL., Fontaniella, B. et al. Carbohydrate composition of sugarcane cultivars that are resistant or susceptible to Sugarcane yellow leaf virus . J Gen Plant Pathol 76, 62–68 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-009-0210-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-009-0210-0