VIEW ARTICLE

Special Topics

Sugarcane Mosaic Virus: Shape of the Inoculum-Infection Curve Near the Origin. Jack L. Dean, Research Plant Pathologist, Science and Education Administration (SEA), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Sugarcane Field Station, Canal Point, FL 33438; Phytopathology 69:179-181. Accepted for publication 17 August 1978. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1979. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-69-179.

A dilution series of 1/160,000, 1/80,000, 1/40,000, and 1/20,000 was prepared from freeze-dried crude extracts of sorghum tissue infected with sugarcane mosaic virus. Each dilution was assayed on 525 sorghum seedlings; the experiment was repeated seven times. Infection of plants that had received the highest concentration of virus ranged from 4.5 to 9.0%. Analysis of variance showed that 99.7% of the variation among the means of the four dilutions was attributable to linear regression. The data were compatible with the conclusion that in the range of dilutions used, the dilution curve is a straight line passing through the origin. The linearity of the curve provides evidence that the genome of sugarcane mosaic virus is contained in a single particle.