Effect of yellow vein mosaic virus infection on the phyllosphere microflora of bhendi (Abelmoschus esculentus W. and A.) plants

Abstract

Phyllosphere microflora of yellow vein mosaic virus inoculated and healthy bhendi plants have been studied at different stages of growth. The middle and bottom leaves of infected plants showed significantly lower population of fungi than the corresponding leaves of healthy plants. The bacterial population on the middle leaves of infected plants was significantly higner than that of the healthy. The differences between the actinomycete population on the leaves of healthy and infected plants were not sign-ficant. The middle leaves of infected plants showed significantly higher total microbial population than those of the healthy ones. The differences in microbial population between leaves of healthy and diseased plants is attributed to the changes in host physiology caused by virus infection.