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Etiology

Carnation Etched Ring Virus: Purification, Stability of Inclusions, and Properties of the Nucleic Acid. R. H. Lawson, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705; E. L. Civerolo, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705. Phytopathology 68:181-188. Accepted for publication 28 July 1977. Copyright © 1978 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-68-181.

Carnation etched ring virus (CERV) was partially purified from mechanically inoculated fresh leaf tissue of Saponaria vaccaria ‘Pink Beauty.’ The yield of CERV from crude sap leaf extracts or from partially purified and concentrated CERV inclusion bodies was increased by treatment of extracts with butanol, urea, and Triton X-100 compared to butanol treatment alone. However, many inclusion bodies were not degraded by the treatment. Carnation etched ring virus nucleic acid (CERV-NA) occurs as linear forms of heterogeneous length as well as circular molecules. The molecular weight of the circular forms ranged from 4.21-4.31 × 10⁶ daltons. Highly twisted molecules without evidence of free ends also may be circular forms, but this could not be determined with certainty. The CERV-NA is completely hydrolyzed by DNase. After treatment with ethidium bromide, both CERV-NA and cauliflower mosaic virus NA bind to carbon-coated grids. In polyacrylamide-agarose gels the CERV-NA was resolved into three fluorescent bands after staining with ethidium bromide. The two slower-migrating components, A and B, consisted of highly twisted molecules that may be circular, a few separated linear forms, and tangled masses of molecules. The fast-moving component C consisted of linear molecules of heterogeneous length. No circular forms were detected in the C component.