BARLEY YELLOW STRIATE MOSAIC RHABDOVIRUS NATURALLY INFECTS CEREAL CROPS IN THE ANATOLIAN PLATEAU OF TURKEY

Field surveys of cereal crops in the Anatolian Plateau of Turkey revea led that bread wheat, durum wheat, barley, triticale and oats are natu rally infected with barley yellow striate mosaic rhabdovirus. Identifi cation was based on symptomatology, double antibody sandwich ELISA (DA S-ELISA), tissue-blot immunoassay (TBIA) and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM). BYSMV was identified in cereal fields near Ankara, Eskisehir, Konya, Karaman and in an area 70 km north east of Isparta. Virus incid ence in all the fields surveyed was less than 1%. This is the first re port where evidence is presented on the natural occurrence of BYSMV on cereals in Turkey.