VIEW ARTICLE

Cytology and Histology

Morphogenesis of Cucumber Mosaic Virus-Induced Crystalline Inclusions in Peppers. G. W. Moorman, Assistant professor, Suburban Experiment Station, University of Massachusetts, Waltham 02254, Present address of senior author: Department of Plant Pathology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802; W. C. Woodbridge, research assistant, Suburban Experiment Station, University of Massachusetts, Waltham 02254. Phytopathology 73:1106-1108. Accepted for publication 22 February 1983. Copyright 1983 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-73-1106.

Plants of Capsicum annuum ‘Yolo Wonder’ inoculated with cucumber mosaic virus were incubated at 21, 27, and 32 C with a 20-hr light period of fluorescent illumination (8,608 lux [800 ft-c]). Two types of crystalline inclusions were observed in the epidermis covering the abaxial surface of the veins of the inoculated leaves. Hexagonal crystals in the cytoplasm were smaller than the cell nucleus. Angular plates were often larger than the nucleus and formed asterisk-shaped aggregates as they increased in size. Angular plates initially appeared in the cells 3- 5 days after inoculation in plants grown at 27 and 32 C, reached maximum size in 11 days, and disappeared in 25 days at 27 C and in 19 days at 32 C. At 21 C, crystals first appeared in 5- 7 days, reached maximum size in 21 days, and disappeared in 28 days.