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Immunodiffusion Tests for Potato Y and Tobacco Etch Viruses. D. E. Purcifull, Associate Professor, Plant Pathology Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville 32601; G. V. Gooding, Jr., Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27607. Phytopathology 60:1036-1039. Accepted for publication 2 February 1970. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-60-1036.

Immunodiffusion tests were developed for serodiagnosis of tobacco etch (TEV) and potato Y (PVY) viruses in tobacco. Alkaline-treated extracts from plants infected with either TEV or PVY gave strong precipitin lines against homologous antisera, but untreated extracts reacted weakly or not at all. Evidence was obtained that the alkali-derived antigens of TEV and PVY are serologically related. Antigens of both viruses reacted after 7 months’ storage in either frozen or dried tobacco leaf tissue.