R. A. C. Jones

• Professor (Associate) at The University of Western Australia

An up-to-2024 phylogenetic summary of c. 30 viruses of the genus tymovirus, and an interpretation of that phylogeny

Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) causes important diseases in Brassicaceae crops worldwide. In 2023, Brassica rapa ssp. perviridis cv. Tendergreen seedlings with virus-like symptoms were found growing within an insect-proof glasshouse. The affected seed lot (A), three others of Tendergreen, and five belonging to other B. rapa subspecies, B. juncea or Was...

Few recent investigations examine coinfection interactions between fungal and viral plant pathogens. Here, we investigated coinfections between Leptosphaeria maculans and turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) in canola (Brassica napus). Different combinations of L. maculans isolate P11 and resistance breaking isolates L. maculans UWA192 and TuMV 12.1, were in...

cucumber mosaic virus in banana plants

Effect of sowing time on barley yellow dwarf virus infection in wheat: virus incidence and grain yield losses.

Here, we review the research undertaken since the 1950s in Australia’s grain cropping regions on seed-borne virus diseases of cool-season pulses caused by alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). We present brief background information about the continent’s pulse industry, virus epidemiology, management principles and future thre...

Australia is a major grain exporter, and this trade makes an important contribution to its economy. Fortunately, it remains free of many damaging virus diseases and virus vectors found elsewhere. However, its crop biosecurity is under increasing pressure from global ecological, climatic, and demographic challenges. Stringent biosecurity and plant h...

Four lupin species, Lupinus angustifolius, L. albus, L. luteus, and L. mutabilis, are grown as cool-season grain legume crops. Fifteen viruses infect them. Two of these, bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), cause diseases that threaten grain lupin production. Phytosanitary and cultural control measures are mainly used to...

In 2020, 264 samples were collected from potato fields in the Turkish provinces of Bolu, Afyon, Kayseri and Niğde. RT-PCR tests, with primers which amplified its coat protein (CP), detected potato virus S (PVS) in 35 samples. Complete CP sequences were obtained from 14 samples. Phylogenetic analysis using non-recombinant sequences of (i) the 14 CP’...

High Plains wheat mosaic virus (HPWMoV) causes a serious disease in major wheat-growing regions worldwide. We report here the complete or partial genomic sequences of five HPWMoV isolates from Australian wheat samples. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the eight genomic segments of these five isolates together with others from Ge...

We report comparisons between the complete genomic sequences of five historical Western Australian isolates of subterranean clover mottle virus (SCMoV) from 1989–2000, and an infectious clone of its 1989 isolate. Sanger Sequencing (SS) and High Throughput Sequencing (HTS), or both, were used to obtain these genomes. Four of the SCMoV isolates were...

Beet ringspot virus (BRSV) isolate IF came from a 1980 bait test on a Scottish soil sample. Between 1982 and 1984, it was used to study possible BRSV seed transmission in potato ( Solanum tuberosum ). To encourage flowering, potato scions were graft-inoculated onto tomato plants and these grafted plants were inoculated with IF. Flowers on BRSV-infe...

The family Apiaceae comprises approximately 3700 species of herbaceous plants, including important crops, aromatic herbs and field weeds. Here we report a study of 10 preserved historical or recent virus samples of apiaceous plants collected in the United Kingdom (UK) import interceptions from the Mediterranean region (Egypt, Israel and Cyprus) or...

Wheat streak mosaic tritimovirus (WSMV) seriously damages wheat worldwide. We report analyses of new complete ORF (CO) sequences from seven Australian isolates with 56 COs and 128 coat protein (CP) genes sequenced previously. Eleven CO and three CP sequences were recombinants. They were removed from our analyses. Patristic distances of Maximum Like...

What occurs when virus‐infection is spreading within a mixed plant species population? This question is important not only for economically significant, mixed species managed systems but also for environmentally significant mixed wild species populations. It received attention in recently published ecological studies on wild plant species, but both...

In 2014, cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) was detected for the first time in Australia infecting watermelon crops in the Northern Territory (NT). In July 2016, a leaf sample was collected from a cucumber plant with leaf mottle and distortion symptoms growing in a commercial plastic tunnel house at Geraldton, Western Australia (WA). Testin...

Tomato black ring virus (TBRV) and beet ringspot virus (BRSV) are closely related but distinct members of subgroup B of the genus Nepovirus. Both viruses have broad host ranges and are transmitted by seed, pollen and ectoparasitic nematodes. Although 13 TBRV and 3 BRSV genome sequences were already available, no attempt has been made to link sequen...

This review summarizes research on virus diseases of cereals and oilseeds in Australia since the 1950s. All viruses known to infect the diverse range of cereal and oilseed crops grown in the continent’s temperate, Mediterranean, subtropical and tropical cropping regions are included. Viruses that occur commonly and have potential to cause the great...

Potato virus V (PVV) causes a disease of potato (Solanum tubersosum) in South and Central America, Europe and the Middle East. We report here the complete genomic sequences of 42 new PVV isolates from the potato's Andean domestication centre in Peru, and of eight historical or recent isolates from Europe. When the principal open reading frames (ORF...

Potato virus Y (PVY) disrupts healthy seed potato production and causes tuber yield and quality losses globally. Its subdivisions consist of strain groups defined by potato hypersensitive resistance (HR) genes and phylogroups defined by sequencing. When PVY isolate PP was inoculated to potato cultivar differentials with HR genes, the HR phenotype p...

This paper is one of a series on viruses of potatoes, and is the work of an international team centred on CIP International Potato Center, Lima, Peru, and most of the core genetic data comes from their Potato Virome Project. The team also includes members from FERA Science Ltd U.K. and four universities (two Australian, an Iranian and a Peruvian) a...

Potato virus X (PVX) occurs worldwide and causes an important potato disease. Complete PVX genomes were obtained from 326 new isolates from Peru, which is within the potato crop′s main domestication center, 10 from historical PVX isolates from the Andes (Bolivia, Peru) or Europe (UK), and three from Africa (Burundi). Concatenated open reading frame...

The world’s staple food crops, and other food crops that optimize human nutrition, suffer from global virus disease pandemics and epidemics that greatly diminish their yields and/or produce quality. This situation is becoming increasingly serious because of the human population’s growing food requirements and increasing difficulties in managing vir...

Virus disease pandemics and epidemics that occur in the world’s staple food crops pose a major threat to global food security, especially in developing countries with tropical or subtropical climates. Moreover, this threat is escalating rapidly due to increasing difficulties in controlling virus diseases as climate change accelerates and the need t...

Forty-seven potato virus A (PVA) isolates from Europe, Australia, and South America’s Andean region were subjected to high-throughput sequencing, and 46 complete genomes from Europe (n = 9), Australia (n = 2), and the Andes (n = 35) obtained. These and 17 other genomes gave alignments of 63 open reading frames 9,180 nucleotides long; 9 were recombi...

Many laboratories maintain historical collections of preserved plant virus isolates that store a wealth of untapped data, including original type isolates, studied in the pre-sequencing era. Currently, many recently recognized virus species exist with no supporting reference sequences. Also, many virus sequences appear new when compared to availabl...

Potato virus Y (PVY) isolates from potato currently exist as a complex of six biologically defined strain groups all containing nonrecombinant isolates and at least 14 recombinant minor phylogroups. Recent studies on eight historical UK potato PVY isolates preserved since 1984 found only nonrecombinants. Here, four of five PVY isolates from cultiva...

The Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) produces annual crops during the dry season (April to October), and perennial crops all-year-round, and is located in tropical northwestern Australia. Sandalwood plantations cover 50% of the ORIA’s cropping area. Aphids cause major crop losses through transmission of viruses causing debilitating diseases and dir...

In the remote Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) in tropical northwest Australia, severe Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) epidemics threaten dry season (April-October) cucurbit crops. In 2016-2017, wet season (November-March) sampling studies found a low incidence ZYMV infection in wild Cucumis melo and Citrullus lanatus var. citroides plants, and...

In this review, encouraged by the dictum of Theodosius Dobzhansky that "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution", we outline the likely evolutionary pathways that have resulted in the observed similarities and differences of the extant molecules, biology, distribution, etc. of the potyvirids and, especially, its largest genu...

Viruses are among the most significant biotic constraints in potato production. In the century since the discovery of the first potato viruses we have learned more and more about these pathogens, and this has accelerated over the last decade with the advent of high-throughput sequencing in the study of plant virology. Most reviews of potato viruses...

In this chapter, we describe current knowledge of the major and most widespread disorders caused by fungal, oomycete, and viral pathogens of annual Medicago spp., explain their roles in causing productivity losses, and consider control options for management, particularly host resistance opportunities. Medicago truncatula, and to a lesser extent ot...

A complete coding sequence of the type strain of Andean potato mottle virus from Peru (isolate Lm) was obtained. Comparison of its RNA1 and RNA2 sequences with variants of this virus isolated in Brazil revealed RNA1 and RNA2 nucleotide identities of 81 to 83% and 70 to 71%, respectively.

Viral diseases provide a major challenge to twenty-first century agriculture worldwide. Climate change and human population pressures are driving rapid alterations in agricultural practices and cropping systems that favor destructive viral disease outbreaks. Such outbreaks are strikingly apparent in subsistence agriculture in food-insecure regions....

Potato virus Y (PVY) causes disease in potatoes and other solanaceous crops. The appearance of its necrogenic strains in the 1980s made it the most economically important virus of potatoes. We report the isolation and genomic sequences of 32 Peruvian isolates of PVY which, together with 428 published PVY genomic sequences, gave an alignment of 460...

Arracacha virus B type (AVB-T) and oca (AVB-O) strains from arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza) and oca (Oxalis tuberosa) samples collected in 1975 and two additional isolates obtained from arracacha (AVB-PX) and potato (AVB-6A) in Peru in 1976 and 1978, respectively, were studied. In its host responses and serological properties, AVB-PX most resemb...

Potato virus Y (PVY) causes disease in potatoes and other solanaceous crops. The appearance of its necrogenic strains in the 1980s made it the most economically important virus of potatoes. We report the isolation and genomic sequences of 32 Peruvian isolates of PVY which, together with 428 published PVY genomic sequences, gave an alignment of 460...

The Chittering strain of potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) infects solanaceous crops and wild plants in the subtropical Gascoyne Horticultural District of Western Australia. Classical PSTVd indicator hosts tomato cultivar Rutgers (R) and potato cultivar Russet Burbank (RB) and currently widely grown tomato cultivars Petula (P) and Swanson (S) and...

In 1976, a virus with flexuous filamentous virions typical of Potyviridae was isolated from symptomatic pepino (Solanum muricatum) plants growing in two valleys in Peru’s coastal desert region. In 2014, a virus with similar shaped virions was isolated from asymptomatic fruits obtained from pepino plants growing in six coastal valleys and a valley i...

A Potato virus U isolate detected in a Peruvian potato sample collected in 1977 produced the first genome sequence of this virus. When this genome sequence was compared with those of other nepoviruses, the amino acid sequences of RNA1 and RNA2 were most similar to those of subgroup C nepoviruses.

We describe here the first genome sequence of Arracacha virus Y (ArVY) derived from an arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza) sample originally collected in 1976 in Peru and compare it with other potyvirus genome sequences. It had a 79% nucleotide identity with a 2013 Brazilian Arracacha mottle virus (AMoV) sequence, suggesting that AMoV is ArVY.

Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) isolates were obtained in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from 23 cucumber (Cucumis sativus) or pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) plants showing mosaic symptoms growing at Kongop in the Mount Hagen District, Western Highlands Province, or Zage in the Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province. The samples were blotted on to FTA c...

We present the complete genomic sequence of a Potato virus T (PVT) isolate originally obtained from a Bolivian potato sample collected in 1976, and we compare it with the genome of the PVT type isolate from Peru. There is an 81% nucleotide identity between the two genomes of this Andean potato virus.

We present the complete genomic sequence of a Potato virus T (PVT) isolate originally obtained from a Bolivian potato sample collected in 1976, and we compare it with the genome of the PVT type isolate from Peru. There is an 81% nucleotide identity between the two genomes of this Andean potato virus.

We present the complete genomic sequence of a new potyvirus we tentatively call Mashua virus Y (MasVY), first isolated in 1984 from a plant of the Andean tuber crop mashua ( Tropaeolum tuberosum , family Tropaeolaceae ). There was a 70% nucleotide identity between MasVY and a genomic sequence of Verbena virus Y .

Isolates of papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) were obtained from plants of pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) or cucumber (Cucumis sativus) showing mosaic symptoms growing at Zage in Goroka District in the Eastern Highland Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) or Bagl in the Mount Hagen District, Western Highlands Province. The samples were sent to Australia on FTA...

Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) and Sweet potato virus C (SPVC) isolates were obtained from sweetpotato shoot or tuberous root samples from three widely separated locations in Australia's tropical north (Cairns, Darwin, and Kununurra). The samples were planted in the glasshouse and scions obtained from the plants were graft inoculated to...

Analysis of an RNA-Seq library from cucumber leaf RNA revealed the first complete genome sequence of Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV) from Papua New Guinea. We compared it with 36 complete CABYV genomes from other world regions. It most resembled the genome of South Korean isolate GS6.

The capacity to spread by diverse transmission pathways enhances a virus’ ability to spread effectively and survive when circumstances change. This review aims to improve understanding of how plant and insect viruses spread through natural and managed environments by drawing attention to 12 novel or neglected virus transmission pathways whose contr...

Biological characteristics of 11 Potato virus S (PVS) isolates from three cultivated potato species (Solanum spp.) growing in five Andean countries and 1 from Scotland differed in virulence depending on isolate and host species. Nine isolates infected Chenopodium quinoa systemically but two others and the Scottish isolate remained restricted to ino...

Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) and Sweet potato virus C (SPVC) isolates from sweet potato were studied to examine genetic connectivity between viruses from Australia and Southeast Asia. East Timorese samples from sweet potato were sent to Australia on FTA cards. Shoot and tuberous root samples were collected in Australia and planted in...

We present the first complete Australian Squash mosaic virus (SqMV) genome sequences. We compared the 2 Australian genomes from 20-year-old cucurbit samples with 8 other SqMV genomes. The Australian genomes shared >99.0% nucleotide identities, and their RNA1 and RNA2 sequences most closely resembled isolates Y and Kimbe from Japan, respectively.

Strain-specific hypersensitive (HR) and extreme resistance (ER) phenotypes elicited in potato plants by three Potato virus Y (PVY) isolates in strain groups PVYO (BL and DEL3) and PVYD (KIP1) were studied. PVYO and PVYD isolates elicit HR genes Ny or putative Nd, respectively, and all three isolates elicit ER gene Ry. They were inoculated to 39Aust...

Analysis of an RNA-seq strand-specific library revealed a complete genome of Hardenbergia mosaic virus (HarMV) from RNA extracted from a native wisteria ( Hardenbergia comptoniana ) plant from southwest Australia. We compared it with eight other complete HarMV genomes. It most resembled (85.8% nucleotide identity) the genome of HarMV isolate MD4-D.

We present here the first complete Squash leaf curl China virus (SLCCV) genomic segment DNA-A sequence from East Timor. It was isolated from a pumpkin plant. When compared with 15 complete SLCCV DNA-A genome sequences from other world regions, it most resembled the Malaysian isolate MC1 sequence.

Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) was first described in 1935 infecting cucumber, making it one of the first plant viruses to be described. Its initial distribution occurred out of England to other countries. This was followed by its subsequent distribution from England and these other countries. This process increased slowly between 1935...

Pathogen buildup in vegetative planting material, termed seed degeneration, is a major problem in many low-income countries. When smallholder farmers use seed produced on-farm or acquired outside certified programs, it is often infected. We introduce a risk assessment framework for seed degeneration, evaluating the relative performance of individua...

Analysis of an RNA-seq library from cucumber leaf RNA extracted from a fast technology for analysis of nucleic acids (FTA) card revealed the first complete genome of Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV) from East Timor. We compare it with 35 complete CABYV genomes from other world regions. It most resembled the genome of the South Korean isol...

We present here the first complete genomic sequence of Arracacha virus A from a Peruvian arracacha sample collected in 1975 and compare it with the genomes of other nepoviruses. Its RNA1 and RNA2 both had greatest amino acid identities with those of the subgroup A nepovirus Melon mild mottle virus .

An empirical model was developed to forecast Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) incidence at a critical phase of the annual growing season to predict yield loss in field pea crops sown under Mediterranean-type conditions. The model uses pre-growing season rainfall to calculate an index of aphid abundance in early-August which, in combination with...

Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) infection causes a serious disease of field pea (Pisum sativum) crops worldwide. The PSbMV transmission efficiencies of five aphid species previously found landing in south-west Australian pea crops in which PSbMV was spreading were studied. With plants of susceptible pea cv. Kaspa, the transmission efficiencies...

We present here the first complete genome sequence of the tobamovirus Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) from Australia, obtained from an infected cucumber plant. Compared with other CGMMV genomes, its closest nucleotide identities were 99.6% to KP772568, 99.3% to KF155229, and 99.1% to DQ767631 from Canada, Israel, and India, respectively.

Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) isolates from cucurbit crops growing in northern Australia and East Timor were investigated to establish possible genetic connectivity between crop viruses in Australia and Southeast Asia. Leaves from symptomatic plants of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata and C. maxima), melon (Cucumis melo), and zucchini (C. pepo) we...

Potato virus Y (PVY) is a major pathogen of potatoes and other solanaceous crops worldwide. It is most closely related to potyviruses first or only found in the Americas, and it almost certainly originated in the Andes, where its hosts were domesticated. We have inferred the phylogeny of the published genomic sequences of 240 PVY isolates collected...

To examine possible genetic connectivity between crop viruses found in Southeast Asia and Australia, Papaya ringspot virus biotype W (PRSV-W) isolates from cucurbits growing in East Timor and northern Australia were studied. East Timorese samples from cucumber (Cucumis sativus) or pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata and C. maxima) were sent to Australia on...

Drivers of Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) epidemics in rainfed field pea crops were examined under autumn to spring growing conditions in a Mediterranean-type environment. To collect aphid occurrence and PSbMV epidemic data under a diverse range of conditions, 23 field pea data collection blocks were set up over a six year period (2010 to 2015...

Pathogen build-up in vegetative planting material, termed seed degeneration, is a major problem in many low-income countries. When smallholder farmers use seed produced on-farm or acquired outside certified programs, it is often infected. We introduce a risk assessment framework for seed degeneration, evaluating the relative performance of individu...

We present here the first complete genomic Aphid lethal paralysis virus (ALPV) sequence isolated from cucumber plant RNA from East Timor. We compare it with two complete ALPV genome sequences from China, and one each from Israel, South Africa, and the United States. It most closely resembled the Chinese isolate LGH genome.

Knowledge of how climate change is likely to influence future virus disease epidemics in cultivated plants and natural vegetation is of great importance to both global food security and natural ecosystems. However, obtaining such knowledge is hampered by the complex effects of climate alterations on the behavior of diverse types of vectors and the...

In field pea (Pisum sativum) crops worldwide, sowing seed with minimal Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) infection is crucial to manage its spread and the seed yield and quality losses it causes. The possibility of using seed fractionation to help decrease PSbMV infection in infected seed-stocks used for sowing crops was investigated. When six PS...

A new resistance-breaking strain of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) overcomes TuMV resistance genes that currently suppress spread of this virus in Brassica napus crops in the Liverpool Plains region of eastern Australia. Isolates 12.1 and 12.5 of this strain and three other isolates in TuMV pathotypes 1 (NSW-2), 7 (NSW-1), and 8 (WA-Ap1) were inoculate...

We present here the first complete Bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV) genomic sequence isolated from virus-infected common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in East Timor, and compare it with six complete BMCNV genomes from the Netherlands, and one each from the United States, Tanzania, and an unspecified country. It most resembled the Netherlands s...

We present the first complete Sweet potato virus G (SPVG) genome from sweet potato in East Timor and compare it with seven complete SPVG genomes from South Korea (three), Taiwan (two), Argentina (one), and the United States (one). It most resembles the genomes from the United States and South Korea.

From 2013 to 2015, incidences of Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) infection were determined in semi-leafless field pea (Pisum sativum) crops and trial plots growing in the Mediterranean-type environment of south-west Australia. PSbMV was found at incidences of 2 to 51% in 9/13 crops, 1 to 100% in 20/24 cultivar plots, and 1 to 57% in 14/21 breed...

We present here the first complete genomic RNA sequence of the polerovirus Suakwa aphid-borne yellows virus (SABYV), from East Timor. The isolate sequenced came from a virus-infected pumpkin plant. The East Timorese genome had a nucleotide identity of 86.5% with the only other SABYV genome available, which is from Taiwan.

Current approaches used to name within-species, plant virus phylogenetic groups are often misleading and illogical. They involve names based on biological properties, sequence differences and geographical, country or place-association designations, or any combination of these. This type of nomenclature is becoming increasingly unsustainable as numb...

We present here the first complete genome sequences of Sweet potato virus 2 (SPV2) from sweet potato in Australia and East Timor, and compare these with five complete SPV2 genome sequences from South Korea and one each from Spain and the United States. Both were closely related to SPV2 genomes from South Korea, Spain, and the United States.

We present here the first complete genomic RNA sequence of the polerovirus Pepper vein yellows virus (PeVYV) obtained from a pepper plant in Australia. We compare it with complete PeVYV genomes from Japan and China. The Australian genome was more closely related to the Japanese than the Chinese genome.

We present here the first complete genome sequences of Sweet potato chlorotic fleck virus (SPCFV) from sweet potato in Australia and East Timor, and we compare these with four complete SPCFV genomes from South Korea and one from Uganda. The Australian, East Timorese, South Korean, and Ugandan genomes differed considerably from each other.

Many epidemics involve plants infected with more than one pathogen, but few experiments address climate change scenarios that influence mixed infections. This study addresses the interactive effects of co-infection and temperature on disease development in plants of the annual pasture species subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum), which is w...

Systemic hypersensitive resistance (SHR) caused by Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) was studied by light microscopy and histochemical analysis in stem cross sections of Brassica juncea (Indian mustard) plants. Ten TuMV isolates were inoculated to leaves of susceptible line JM 06006, cv. Oasis CI, which carries TuMV systemic hypersensitivity gene TuRBJU 0...