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Disease Note First Report of a Virus Present in Asparagus in New Jersey. R. F. Davis, Plant Pathology Department, Cook College, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. S. Garrison, Horticulture Department, Cook College, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. Plant Dis. 68:628. Accepted for publication 24 April 1984. Copyright 1984 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-68-628f. A flexuous rod-shaped virus has been consistently isolated from asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) in New Jersey. The virus was detected by necrotic local lesion production on Chenopodium quinoa Willd. 8-10 days after mechanical inoculation. Leaf-dip electron microscopy revealed flexuous rod particles within the potyvirus size range. Virus was detected in asparagus clones produced in tissue culture that had symptoms of stunting and necrosis on the base of the shoot tip and in clones without such symptoms. Infected plants in the field or the greenhouse showed no obvious symptoms. On the basis of host range and morphology, this virus appears very similar to a potyvirus designated asparagus virus I (AV-I). Reductions in yield and vigor have been associated with AV-I. The virus reported here may be involved in the general decline of asparagus in New Jersey. |