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Seed Transmission of Pepino mosaic virus and Efficacy of Tomato Seed Disinfection Treatments

October 2007 , Volume 91 , Number  10
Pages  1,250 - 1,254

Maria del Carmen Córdoba-Sellés, Ana García-Rández, Ana Alfaro-Fernández, and Concepción Jordá-Gutiérrez, Grupo de Virologia-Instituto Agroforestal del Mediterráneo (IAM). Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera 14, 46022 Valencia, Spain



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Accepted for publication 17 April 2007.
ABSTRACT

Rates of seed transmission for Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) were estimated in seedlings grown from seeds obtained from symptomatic tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruits of plants naturally infected with the virus. The proportion of seeds infected with PepMV was at least 25% as estimated from enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis of grouped seeds. The seeds from symptomatic fruits were planted, and seedlings at the cotyledon and transplant stage were assayed for PepMV by ELISA. Three of 168 seedlings grown from infected seeds were PepMV-positive, corresponding to a seed-to-seedling transmission rate of 1.84%. Various tomato seed treatments were evaluated for their ability to prevent seed transmission of PepMV. This virus was largely eradicated by immersing the seeds in 10% trisodium phosphate for 3 h. Although heat treatments of 24 h at 80°C and 48 h at 74°C eliminated PepMV in seedlings, these treatments did not eradicate the virus in whole seeds. The three treatments did not adversely affect seed germination. The results suggest that trisodium phosphate can be used to eradicate PepMV in tomato seed without hindering germination.


Additional keywords:pectinase, potexvirus, thermic treatment

© 2007 The American Phytopathological Society