Researchers have identified narrow leaf lupin cultivars immune to the common necrotic form of bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV).

BYMV can cause serious yield decline in narrow leaf lupins, killing the whole plant two to four weeks after infection.

Researchers constructed a synthetic resistance gene from a BYMV segment and transferred it to the narrow-leafed lupin cultivar Wonga.

The resulting transgenic lines were inoculated with BYMV and seven highly resistant lines were identified. Most or all of the individual plants remained free of symptoms.

The cultivars were identified by researchers at the Western Australia State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre and the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, as part of the Grains Research and Development Corporation-supported Transgenic Pulse Development Project.