Temperature and CO₂ Level Influence Potato leafroll virus Infection in Solanum tuberosum

We determined the effects of atmospheric temperature (10–30 ± 2°C in 5°C increments) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels (400 ± 50 ppm, 540 ± 50 ppm, and 940 ± 50 ppm) on the infection of Solanum tuberosum cv. Chubaek by Potato leafroll virus (PLRV). Below CO₂ levels of 400 ± 50 ppm, the PLRV infection rate and RNA content in plant tissues increased as the temperature increased to 20 ± 2°C, but declined at higher temperatures. At high CO₂ levels (940 ± 50 ppm), more plants were infected by PLRV at 30 ± 2°C than at 20 or 25 ± 2°C, whereas PLRV RNA content was unchanged in the 20–30 ± 2°C temperature range. The effects of atmospheric CO₂ concentration on the acquisition of PLRV by Myzus persicae and accumulation of PLRV RNA in plant tissues were investigated using a growth chamber at 20 ± 2°C. The M. persicae PLRV RNA content slightly increased at elevated CO₂ levels (940 ± 50 ppm), but this increase was not statistically significant. Transmission rates of PLRV by Physalis floridana increased as CO₂ concentration increased. More PLRV RNA accumulated in potato plants maintained at 540 or 940 ± 50 ppm CO₂, than in plants maintained at 400 ± 50 ppm. This is the first evidence of greater PLRV RNA accumulation and larger numbers of S. tuberosum plants infected by PLRV under conditions of combined high CO₂ levels (940 ± 50 ppm) and high temperature (30 ± 2°C).