VIEW ARTICLE

Etiology

Properties of the Nucleoprotein Associated with Maize White Line Mosaic in Wisconsin. G. A. de Zoeten, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706; D. C. Arny(2), C. R. Grau(3), S. M. Saad(4), and G. Gaard(5). (2)(3)(5)Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706; (4)Plant pathologist, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, Madison, WI 53706. Phytopathology 70:1019-1022. Accepted for publication 23 April 1980. Copyright 1980 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-70-1019.

A disease called maize white line mosaic was found on corn in Wisconsin in 1979. The disease was associated with isometric particles and seemed to be soilborne. Mechanical transmission from corn to corn and to other herbaceous hosts was not successful. A purification method is described for the presumed causal agent. The etiological agent, called maize white line mosaic virus (MWLMV), was approximately 35 nm in diameter, consisted of a single nucleoprotein component, had a sedimentation coefficient of 117 S, a buoyant density of 1.353 g/cm³, contained ssRNA with a molecular weight of 1.25 × 10⁶, and its coat protein had a molecular weight of approximately 32,000. The extinction coefficient (E₁^0.1%_cm) of the virus at 260 nm was 3.9. The base percent composition of the nucleic acid was: U = 24.3%, G = 30%, A = 19.7%, and C = 26%. An antiserum was produced against the virus and used for identification of the pathogen in corn and other hosts in Wisconsin and for demonstrating its relatedness to a similar virus found in Ohio and Vermont.