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Development of a Detection System for Viruses of Woody Plants Based on PCR Analysis of Immobilized Virions. A. Rowhani, Plant pathology specialist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; M. A. Maningas(2), L. S. Lile(3), S. D. Daubert(4), and D. A. Golino(5). (2)Post graduate researcher, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; (3)Plant pathologist, USDA-ARS, National Germplasm Repository, Davis, CA 95616; (4)Staff research associate, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; (5)USDA-ARS, research plant pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Phytopathology 85:347-352. Accepted for publication 6 December 1994. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1995. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-85-347.

The genomes of several viruses infecting woody host plants were found to serve as templates for the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) while still contained within their capsids as virions in solution. A detection system was developed in which the virions could be assayed by RT-PCR after recovery from solution by immobilization directly onto polypropylene or polystyrene surfaces. Components of crude plant extracts that could otherwise inhibit the RT-PCR analysis were washed away, and the immobilized virions could then be detected by the PCR reaction. Quantitative RT-PCR assays of virions bound non-specifically to plastic were compared to those in which the viruses were bound by specific antiserum-directed immunocapture. Binding to plastic was inhibited to a greater extent by extracts of some of the host plants than was immunocapture.