VIEW ARTICLE

Lack of Potato Virus S Transmission via True Seed in Solanum tuberosum. R. W. Goth, Plant Pathologist, Vegetable Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705; R. E. Webb, Plant Pathologist, Vegetable Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705. Phytopathology 65:1347-1349. Accepted for publication 19 December 1974. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-65-1347.

Microprecipitin and single-radial-immunodiffusion serological methods combined with indicator hosts (Nicotiana debneyi and Chenopodium quinoa) did not detect potato virus S (PVS) in 1,028 greenhouse-grown seedlings derived from crosses of five PVS-infected parents. To insure accuracy of the negative tests, we saved tubers from these seedlings and repeated the tests through two subsequent tuber generations; PVS was not detected in any of the plants. Therefore, we conclude that PVS is not transmitted via true seeds of crosses between PVS-infected cultivars Atzimba and Katahdin and breeding lines GN70-3, A6334-19, or B6695. This evidence indicates that PVS probably is not transmitted through true seed in tetraploid potatoes.