New disease of sugar beet ‘Syndrome des Basses Richesses’ found in Hungary
An unknown disease of sugar beet has recently been observed in Hungary. Symptoms resembled those of the disease called ‘syndrome des basses richesses’ which was described in France. Analysis revealed the presence of bacterium-like organisms (BLO) in the phloem of diseased plants. It can be recalled that ‘syndrome des basses richesses’ was first reported in Bourgogne (FR) in 1991 and is mainly characterized by a low sugar content in the roots of affected plants. Its etiology is still unclear, although both a phytoplasma (belonging to stolbur group) and a BLO (related to ‘Candidatus Phlomobacter fragariae’) have been found associated with the disease. In addition, studies showed that an insect vector (Pentastiridius beieri, Homoptera: Ciixidae) might be involved in disease transmission (see EPPO RS 2002/017 and 2002/084).
Sources
Pocsai E, Boudon-Padieu E, Desqué D, Gatineau F, Larrue J, Ember I, Elekes M, Gergely L, Hertelendy P, Potyondi L, Zsolnai B (2005) [Occurrence of ‘low-sugar syndrom’ disease of sugar beet in Hungary.] Növényvédelem 41(1), 31-40.