First report of a furovirus vector systemically expressing fluorescent protein in barley and wheat

Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus is a furovirus that causes severe stunting and mosaic in susceptible barley and wheat. For resistance screening, systemic virus infections can be visualized using virus that expresses a fluorescent protein (FP). In constructing a furovirus vector that expresses a FP when systemically infecting a monocot, we showed that Azami-Green gene was more stable than green fluorescent protein gene in the vector genome in Nicotiana benthamiana and that sap from vector-infected Johnsongrass is suitable inoculum for barley. This is the first report of a furovirus vector that stably and systemically expresses a FP gene in monocotyledons.