Indian bean and lentil crops battle triple virus infections
Meena BR, Sharma SK, Roy A, Gayacharan C, Mishra GP
Crop Improvement
If you've ever grown mung beans or lentils in a home garden, this study is a reminder that legumes are magnets for viruses that spread fast and often team up to overwhelm a plant's defenses.
Scientists checked 117 pulse fields (like mung bean and other lentil relatives) across India and found that sick plants were usually infected with two or three different viruses simultaneously, not just one. The most common combo turned yellow leaves into a widespread problem, with disease severity topping 70% in some areas. The findings show these viruses mix and spread across regions somewhat unpredictably, which makes breeding resistant crop varieties a tricky, moving target.
Key Findings
MYMIV was detected in 94.02% of symptomatic samples, followed by MYMV (70.94%) and GBNV (48.72%), with MYMIV+MYMV+GBNV as the most common triple co-infection
Yellow mosaic disease severity exceeded 70% and leaf crinkle exceeded 22% in several surveyed districts
MYMV and MYMIV showed strong regional genetic divergence across sites while GBNV populations remained genetically more uniform
chevron_right Technical Summary
A large survey of pulse crops across six Indian states found that most infected plants carry multiple viruses at once, with yellow mosaic disease affecting over 70% severity in several districts, threatening one of the country's key protein food sources.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Pulse Virome Profiling in India: Incidence, Diversity, and Mixed Infection Dynamics.
Although India leads global food legume production, productivity remains low largely due to viral diseases. Despite the known diversity of legume-infecting viruses, comprehensive studies integratin...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae, or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, but also as livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing ...