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Molecular Plant Pathology

Isolation, Molecular Cloning, and Detection of Strawberry Vein Banding Virus DNA. D. C. Stenger, Graduate research assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley 94720; R. H. Mullin, and T. J. Morris. Staff research associate, and Professor, respectively, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley 94720. Phytopathology 78:154-159. Accepted for publication 24 July 1987. Copyright 1988 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-78-154.

DNA with caulimovirus properties was isolated from strawberry vein banding virus (SVBV). Native viral DNA of 7.8 kbp was circular and double-stranded. Each DNA strand contained one discontinuity positioned at either 0.0 or 0.5 map units on the circular molecule. EcoRI-digested SVBV DNA was cloned into the Escherichia coli plasmid pUC8. A recombinant plasmid (pSVBV-E3) containing a 7.8-kbp EcoRI insert hybridized to SVBV DNA but not to cauliflower mosaic virus DNA and had a restriction map identical to that of SVBV DNA. Dot hybridization tests using pSVBV-E3 as a probe indicated SVBV DNA titer varied greatly between leaflets sampled from the same plant.