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Etiology

Purification and Characterization of Strawberry Crinkle Virus. B. G. Hunter, Postdoctoral research assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley 94720; J. Richardson(2), R. G. Dietzgen(3), A. Karu(4), E. S. Sylvester(5), A. O. Jackson(6), and T. J. Morris(7). (2)(5)Staff research associate and professor, Department of Entomology, University of California, Berkeley 94720; (3)Visiting scientist from Department of Plant Pathology, Waite Agricultural Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia, Present address: Plant Pathology Branch, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Indooroopilly, Queensland 4068, Australia; (4)(6)(7)Professors, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley 94720. Phytopathology 80:282-287. Accepted for publication 5 September 1989. Copyright 1990 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-80-282.

Strawberry crinkle virus (SCV), a cytoplasmic rhabdovirus, has proven difficult to purify from strawberry leaves. By testing alternative hosts and different procedures, we have succeeded in purifying SCV from leaves of Physalis floridana using a celite filtration method. Two classes of particles differing in sedimentation rate could be distinguished by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Electron microscopic examination of these purified preparations revealed the presence of bacilliform particles and an apparent size difference between the two classes. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of sodium dodecyl sulfate-disrupted virions showed that SCV contains three major structural proteins with molecular weights estimated to be 78, 47, and 25 kDa. The 78-kDa protein bound lectins, identifying it as the viral glycoprotein. The SCV protein profile resembles that of lettuce necrotic yellows virus (LNYV) but differs appreciably from sonchus yellow net virus (SYNV). SCV has no detectable serological relatedness to LNYV or SYNV. These results suggest that SCV is distinct from other previously characterized rhabdoviruses.