Filtered-Air Enclosures Exclude Vectors and Enable Measurement of Effects of Viruses on White Clover in the Field. P. B. Gibson, Research Agronomist, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631. O. W. Barnett, Professor of Plant Pathology, P. M. Burrows, Professor of Experimental Statistics, and F. D. King, Agricultural Research Technician, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631. Plant Dis. 66:142-144. Accepted for publication 15 March 1981. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1982. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-142.

Circular, clear plastic enclosures, with air introduced through insect-proof filters as a means of excluding vectors, were evaluated in a study of the effects of three aphid-transmitted viruses on white clover growing in field plots. Successful use of these enclosures requires a level test area with access to electricity and irrigation water. Peanut stunt virus caused a greater reduction in forage yield than clover yellow vein virus. In a single test with duplicate plots, alfalfa mosaic virus caused reductions in yield intermediate between those caused by peanut stunt virus and clover yellow vein virus.

Keyword(s): Trifolium repens.