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Leaf-Dip Serology for the Determination of Strain Relationships of Elongated Plant Viruses. Willem G. Langenberg, Plant Pathologist, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 68503; Phytopathology 64:128-131. Accepted for publication 6 July 1973. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-128.

Electron microscopic identification of plant viruses by the leaf-dip serology method of Ball and Brakke was extended to determine a relationship of ryegrass mosaic virus (RMV) and wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) and the strains A and B of maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV). Antiserum to WSMV reacted with RMV in leaf-dip serology and in liquid drop microprecipitin tests but not in gel-diffusion plates. MDMV-B antiserum reacted with MDMV-A in leaf dips and in gel-diffusion plates. Antiserum to a related virus did not coat the related particles uniformly but could be seen to adhere in a spiral arrangement along the particles, indicating serological differences in viral protein subunits along the virus rods. No relationship was found between barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) and poa semilatent virus (PSLV) or between hordeum mosaic virus (HMV) and WSMV.