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Disease Control and Pest Management

Evaluation of Heat Therapy of Poinsettia Mosaic and Characterization of the Viral Components. Mary Ann Pfannenstiel, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706; Keith P. Mintz(2), and Robert W. Fulton(3). (2)(3)Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706. Phytopathology 72:252-254. Accepted for publication 16 June 1981. Copyright 1982 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-72-252.

Poinsettia mosaic virus (PMV) was not transmitted to poinsettias by standard commercial propagating practices. Foliage or root contact over periods of several months also did not transmit PMV. Growing infected poinsettias at 32 C for 9 wk or more resulted in virus-free shoots, which were propagated by grafting to virus-free rootstocks. The protein subunit of PMV had a molecular weight of 21,700 daltons and there was a single species of RNA with a molecular weight of 2.0 × 10⁶ daltons.