VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Viruslike Particles and Double-Stranded RNA in Geotrichum candidum, the Causal Agent of Citrus Sour Rot. Henia Mor, Department of Botany, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Rivka Steinlauf(2), and Isaac Barash(3). (2)(3)Department of Botany, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Phytopathology 74:921-924. Accepted for publication 3 March 1984. Copyright 1984 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-74-921.

A single kind of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) with apparent molecular weight of 3.6 × 10⁶ daltons was detected in isolates of Geotrichum candidum by agarose gel electrophoresis. The dsRNA molecule was present in 8 of 10 isolates of the citrus sour rot pathogen but absent in nonpathogenic isolates of G. candidum. Isodiametric (~40 nm) viruslike particles (VLPs) were purified from a pathogenic isolate. The dsRNA molecule of viral origin was identical in molecular size to the dsRNA obtained directly from cells. Two virus-associated proteins with estimated molecular weights of ~94,000 and 71,000 daltons were characterized by SDS polyacrylamide electrophoresis.