An integrated approach for the evaluation of biological control of the complex Polymyxa betae/Beet Necrotic Yellow Vein Virus, by means of seed inoculants

The fungus Polymyxa betae Keskin belongs to the family Plasmodiophoraceae and lives in the soil as an obligatory parasite of the roots of the Chenopodiaceae. When contaminated by beet necrotic yellow vein virus, this viruliferous fungus causes a serious disease of sugar beet known as rhizomania, whereas the infection by the fungus alone (aviruliferous fungus) causes only slight damage to the plant with little economic consequence. The manifestation of rhizomania in sugar beet is directly related to the concentration of infecting units of viruliferous P. betae present in the soil. (One infecting unit is a group of one or more sporosori that liberate zoospores capable of visibly infecting a plant.) By using current methods of analysis, it is possible to estimate the total quantity of P. betae present in the soil, but one cannot distinguish quantitatively the infecting units of aviruliferous from viruliferous P. betae. A new method has been developed based on the technique of the most probable number and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to estimate the concentration of infecting units of viruliferous P. betae in soil. The method is suitable for the routine analysis of numerous soil samples and allows one to estimate the concentration of viable forms of the fungus P. betae, whether or not contaminated by beet necrotic yellow vein virus, present in a soil affected by rhizomania or presumed healthy. The analyses performed with this method are economical and use a reagent kit and equipment in wide use.