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Disease Detection and Losses

Gamete-Seed Transmission of Alfalfa Mosaic Virus and Its Effect on Seed Germination and Yield in Alfalfa Plants. K. Hemmati, Research Assistant, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; D. L. McLean, Professor of Entomology, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Phytopathology 67:576-579. Accepted for publication 23 November 1976. Copyright © 1977 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-67-576.

The percentage of alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV)-infected seeds was determined in the commercial production of seven different cultivars of alfalfa. Seed transmission of AMV ranged from 0.6 to 10.3%. The transmission of AMV through pollen and the ovules of the infected alfalfa plants was shown. Ovule transmission ranged from 0.5 to 6.0% and pollen transmission varied from 1.0 to 14.0%. Under greenhouse conditions, there was a reduction of 30.8-34.6% in germination and a reduction of 45.1-68.6% in yield of seed by AMV-infected alfalfa. No systemic infection from the infected pollen in the normal or male-sterile female parents was detected. The susceptibility of two different cultivars of alfalfa, Sonora 70 and Mesa Sirsa 034, to AMV is compared.