Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (virus): Yellowing of leaves is the first visible sign that a plant is diseased. When infection occurs in a plant during the seedling stage, the leaves turn a bright golden yellow, usually beginning at the tips and progressing back along the edges. In very susceptible varieties, plants infected in the seedling stage are severely dwarfed and may grow less than six inches tall. They produce more tillers than healthy plants but form no heads. Several species of aphids can carry the virus from infected grasses to barley. Use resistant varieties (Table 1).
