Johnsongrass mosaic virus infecting sorghum in Brazil.

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is cultivated in several tropical and subtropical regions in the world. Among the diseases, the mosaic caused by potyvirus is an important constraint for the agricultural production causing reduction in grain and forage sorghum production. In Brazil, only Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) had previously been reported as the potyvirus species causing mosaic in sorghum and maize. A survey was carried out in sorghum plantations of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, during the 2014/2015 crop season for monitoring mosaic disease. Samples of sorghum plants expressing virus disease symptoms were collected for molecular analyzes. Molecular characterization of coat protein (CP) of the potyviruses naturally infecting sorghum, allowed us to identify the Johnsongrass mosaic virus (JGMV) as a new causal agent of mosaic disease in sorghum in Brazil. The sequences of the Brazilian JGMV sorghum-infecting (JGMV-Sr) isolates were deposited in the GenBank under the accession numbers KY952241, KY952242, and KY952243. Comparisons of the CP gene sequences of these Brazilian JGMV-Sr isolates revealed high nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) sequence identities, ranging from 97.93 to 98.23%, and 99.12 to 99.20%, respectively, with the U07218.1 (JGMV-MDKS1) isolate. The Brazilian JGMV-Sr isolates were distinct from the Brazilian forage grasses-infecting (JGMV-Fg) isolates (KT833782 and KT289893). Transmission evaluations showed susceptibility of the teosinte, Sorghum verticilliflorum and Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, except line QL3.Maize and sugarcane genotypes were not infected by the Brazilian JGMV-Sr isolate. However, it is important to test more genotypes. This is the first report showing the identification and molecular characterization of the JGMV species naturally infecting sorghum at field conditions, expanding the knowledge about the dynamic and range of the mosaic causal agent for this crop in Brazil.