VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Rocket Immunoelectrophoresis Assay for Cauliflower Mosaic Virus. Thomas J. Hagen, Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens 30602; Delia Barnes Taylor(2), and Richard B. Meagher(3). (2)Department of Molecular and Population Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens 30602; (3)Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. Phytopathology 72:239-242. Accepted for publication 1 June 1981. Copyright 1982 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-72-239.

A rocket immunoelectrophoresis assay is described for cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV), a DNA-containing plant virus. The assay is efficient in terms of reagents, can accommodate a large number of samples, is quantitative over a wide range of virus concentration (from 25 ng to 10 μg) and requires less than 8 hr to complete. Virus was detected in as little as 25 mg of plant leaf tissue. The assay is suitable for a number of physiological studies on the caulimoviruses. A small-scale virus enrichment designed to screen quantitatively a large number of independent infected plants by using the rocket assay is described. An improved large-scale virus purification procedure, and the assay and production of serum antibody against CaMV are discussed. Initial studies on the callus culture of CaMV-infected leaves are reported.