Alfalfa Mosaic Virus in Pachysandra terminalis. Donald E. Hershman, Department of Plant Pathology, Cook College, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick 08903. Eugene H. Varney, Department of Plant Pathology, Cook College, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick 08903. Plant Dis. 66:1195-1196. Accepted for publication 12 July 1982. Copyright 1982 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-1195.

A disease of pachysandra, characterized by line pattern, ring spot, and mosaic symptoms, was observed at several locations in central New Jersey. A virus consistently associated with infected plants was readily transmitted by sap inoculation to selected herbaceous plants; symptoms induced were similar to those caused by alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV). In vitro properties of the pachysandra virus were within limits for those reported for AMV. The pachysandra virus reacted with AMV antiserum. Electron microscopy of the purified virus revealed bacilliform to spherical particles characteristic of AMV. This virus, like AMV, was transmitted in a nonpersistent manner by the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae. This is believed to be the first report of a virus infecting Pachysandra and the first report of AMV infecting a member of the Buxaceae.

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