VIEW ARTICLE

Effects of Atrazine and Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus Infection on Weight and Macro and Micro Element Constituents of Maize Seedlings in the Greenhouse. D. R. MacKenzie, Research Assistant, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802; H. Cole(2), C. B. Smith(3), and C. Ercegovich(4). (2)(3)(4)Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and Chemical Pesticides, Professor of Plant Nutrition, and Associate Professor of Chemical Pesticides, respectively, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802. Phytopathology 60:272-279. Accepted for publication 8 September 1969. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-60-272.

The criteria of maize dwarf mosaic expression and virus transmissibility as indicators of maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) infection showed that the resistant maize hybrid Pa 54 × Pa 11 and the partially resistant hybrid WF9 × B14 became progressively more susceptible to MDMV with increasing levels of atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) up to 100% infection at 20 ppm atrazine. MDMV inoculation and the addition of 1 ppm or more atrazine resulted in reduced fresh wt. In some instances, the effect of atrazine on fresh wt was interrelated with MDMV inoculation, in that MDMV inoculation counteracted the weight-reducing effect of atrazine at 1 and 5 ppm. The effect of atrazine on element concentrations varied with time, hybrid, MDMV inoculation, and the quantity of atrazine added to the soil. In general, P, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, B, Al, Sr, and Zn within the foliar tissues increased in the presence of atrazine. MDMV inoculation effects on foliar element levels were related to other factors, but over-all, P, K, Mn, Cu, and B increased in inoculated plants.