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Etiology of Virus-Induced Wilt of Cicer arietinum. Walter J. Kaiser, Research Plant Pathologist, Regional Pulse Improvement Project, Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA, c/o American Embassy, Tehran, Iran; Dariush Danesh, Plant Pathologist, Pulse Project, Tehran, Iran, Present address: Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley 94720. Phytopathology 61:453-457. Accepted for publication 9 November 1970. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-61-453.

In Iran, chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) are naturally affected by four viruses: alfalfa mosaic (AMV); bean yellow mosaic (BYMV); cucumber mosaic (CMV); and pea leaf roll (PLRV); which cause wilting symptoms in this host. Symptomatology, host range studies, physical property tests, vector-virus relationships, serology, and electron microscopy were utilized in virus identification. In addition to wilting, virus diseases caused stunting, yellowing, abundant formation of secondary shoots, leaf deformation, dwarfing, and phloem discoloration. Microorganisms were seldom isolated from the vascular elements of stems of diseased chickpeas, nor did they reproduce the disease symptoms in greenhouse inoculation studies. However, inoculation with the different viruses produced disease symptoms similar or identical to those observed in nature. All viruses, except PLRV, were juice-transmissible and stylet-borne by Aphis craccivora. PLRV was transmitted only by aphids in a circulative manner or by grafting.