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Etiology

Identification and Partial Characterization of a Closterovirus Infecting Nandina domestica. Nabila A. Ahmed, Graduate student, Plant Pathology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611; Stephen R. Christie(2), and F. W. Zettler(3). (2)(3)Plant pathologist III, and professor, respectively, Plant Pathology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611. Phytopathology 73:470-475. Accepted for publication 1 October 1982. 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, 1983. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-73-470.

Plants of Nandina domestica 'Nana-purpurea' exhibit horticultural characteristics (stunting, foliar mosaic, and distortion) frequently associated with virus etiology. Flexuous rod-shaped virus particles with a helical structure and ranging from 696- 830 nm were consistently found in negatively stained leaf extracts of this cultivar. Phloem-limited inclusions resembling those described for closteroviruses were seen in ultrathin sections and in tissues stained with azure A. The virus produced distortion and mosaic in leaves of nandina seedlings inoculated by grafting or by slashing stems with a partially purified preparation. Infected plants also developed stem pitting, but were not appreciably stunted. The virus was not transmitted by sap inoculation to nandina seedlings or any herbaceous host tested. The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, did not transmit the virus to nandina seedlings. The virus was purified from nandina tissue by homogenization in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.2 and containing 0.5 M Na₂SO₃), concentration with 4% polyethylene glycol, and isopycnic centrifugation in cesium sulfate. The A_260/280 ratio of purified virus was 1.22- 1.24, and a maximum yield was 0.044 mg/g fresh weight. The virus, here designated as nandina stem pitting virus, is distinct from previously described viruses from nandina.