Isolation and Characterization of Mottle Virus from Wild Peanut. M. R. Sanborn, Department of Botany and Microbiology, Department of Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078. H. A. Melouk, USDA, ARS, Department of Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078. Plant Dis. 67:819-821. Accepted for publication 10 March 1983. 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, 1983. DOI: 10.1094/PD-67-819.

Wild species of peanut are being used in breeding programs to transfer disease resistance into common cultivars. One such peanut accession, PI 276235 ([GK 10602] Arachis chacoense) had mild mottling and was suspected of carrying peanut mottle virus (PMV). A long flexuous rod-shaped virus 600–900 nm long, serologically and symptomatically related to PMV, was isolated from PI 276235. The virus was mechanically and graft-transmitted to two cultivars, producing severe mottling, chlorosis, leaf rolling, and stunting. The virus, as expressed by the mild symptoms on PI 276235, seems to have little effect on the growth of that plant under greenhouse and field conditions. From our studies, we have shown that A. chacoense plants may serve as reservoirs for PMV.