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Evidence that Ratoon Stunting Disease of Sugarcane Is Caused by Virus and Not Mycoplasma. A. G. Gillaspie, Jr., Research Plant Pathologist, Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA, Houma, Louisiana 70360. Phytopathology 60:1448-1450. Accepted for publication 22 April 1970. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-60-1448.

Treatment of ratoon stunting disease-affected sugarcane (Saccharum tri-specific hybrid) with tetracycline compounds did not eliminate the infectious agent from the cane, nor did it affect symptom expression. The evidence presented indicates that a mycoplasma is not the causal agent, and does not contradict previous evidence that a virus is. The results illustrate that not all diseases of obscure etiology involve mycoplasma, and provide another example showing that tetracyclines are ineffective against a disease induced by a virus.