Seed Transmission of Tobacco Streak Virus in Strawberry. H. A. Johnson, Jr., Director of Research, Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Inc., Watsonville, CA 95076. R. H. Converse, Research Plant Pathologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331; A. Amorao, Plant Breeder, Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Inc.; J. I. Espejo, Plant Breeder, Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Inc.; and N. W. Frazier, Research Nematologist Emeritus, Department of Nematology, University of California, Davis 95616. Plant Dis. 68:390-392. Accepted for publication 18 November 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. DOI: 10.1094/PD-68-390.

Necrotic shock disease (NSD), associated with tobacco streak virus (TSV) infection of strawberry, was detected in 73 of 392 seedlings derived from crosses among strawberry cultivars when one or both parents were infected. Transmission rates were similar among crosses when the male parent, the female parent, or both were infected, but rates varied from 0 to 35%, depending on the parental lines involved. Plants serving as female parents did not become infected with TSV when pollinated with pollen from TSV-infected cultivars. The virus was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in small lots of ungerminated strawberry seed from crosses involving one or both TSV-infected parents but not from those involving healthy parents. Detection of TSV by ELISA was not influenced by surface-disinfestation of infected seed. NSD caused significant reductions in runner production and fruit yield in the patented strawberry cultivar Driscoll E18 in replicated field tests.