Berseem Mosaic, a Seed-Transmitted Virus Disease. M. D. Mishra, Division of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. S. P. Raychaudhuri, A. Ghosh, and Roy D. Wilcoxson, Division of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. Plant Dis. 64:490-492. Copyright 1980 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-64-490.

A mosaic disease observed in berseem plants in India was sap-inoculable and transmitted by Aphis gossypii but not by A. rumicis or A. craccivora. Mechanical inoculation produced chlorotic lesions on leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris, Chenopodium amaranticolor, and C. album. Systemic mottling was produced on Petunia sp.; Solanum melongena; Lycopersicon esculentum; Nicotiana tabacum ‘White Burley,’ ‘Harrison’s Special,’ and ‘Xanthi’; N. rustica; N. glutinosa; Trifolium pratense; Medicago sativa; and Melilotus alba. Cowpea (Vigna sinensis) was a symptomless carrier. The virus in crude sap of infected tobacco plants had a thermal inactivation point between 51 and 54 C, a dilution end point between 1:140 and 1:180, and longevity in vitro between 4 and 5 hr at room temperature (25–30 C). Shadow-coated leaf-dip preparations from diseased berseem and tobacco plants showed bacilliform particles 45 × 18 nm. The virus, serologically related to alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and probably a new strain of that virus, was transmitted by 60–70% of berseem seeds.