VIEW ARTICLE

Retention of Tobacco Ringspot Virus by Xiphinema americanum. J. M. McGuire, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701; Phytopathology 63:324-326. Accepted for publication 26 September 1972. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-63-324.

Tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV) was retained by Xiphinema americanum for extended periods. The patterns of retention and transmission under various conditions indicated slow release of TRSV held tightly in the lumen of the esophagus of X. americanum. TRSV was transmitted by nematodes after 9 months’ storage at 8 C without a host after virus acquisition access, but percent transmission by single nematodes decreased with time in storage. Some nematodes remained viruliferous after 10 weeks of feeding access to Fragaria vesca, which is not a host of the virus, but percent of viruliferous nematodes also decreased with time. Individual nematodes transmitted TRSV to more than one plant. However, short periods of feeding access to healthy cucumber by viruliferous X. americanum reduced the transmission rates when compared to storage of nematodes without a host or feeding access to TRSV-infected cucumber.