Simple Latex Agglutination Test for Detecting Flexuous Rod-Shaped Viruses in Forage Legumes. J. W. Demski, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Georgia Station, Experiment 30212. D. C. Bays, Postdoctoral Research Associate, and M. A. Khan, Former Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Georgia Station, Experiment 30212. Plant Dis. 70:777-779. Accepted for publication 26 January 1986. Copyright 1986 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-777.

Flexuous rod-shaped viruses occurring in forage legumes were detected by a latex agglutination test (LAT). This simple, sensitive, reliable, and rapid serological procedure detected alfalfa latent (ALV), bean yellow mosaic (BYMV), clover yellow mosaic (CYMV), clover yellow vein (CYVV), red clover vein mosaic (RCVMV), white clover mosaic (WCMV), and peanut mottle (PMV) viruses directly from leaf sap extracts of greenhouse and field samples of various clovers and peas. The standard dilution procedure using purified virus preparations showed that LAT detected as little as 0.5, 0.5, 0.1, 0.2, 0.1, and 0.2 μg/ml of BYMV, CYVV, CYMV, RCVMV, WCMV, and ALV, respectively. In crude sap extracts (1:10, w/v) from pea and clover, the detectable dilution end point for these viruses varied from 4×10^–2 to 4×10^–4. The capability of LAT to detect virus in composite samples of infected and uninfected leaflets was 1 in 20 for BYMV and CYVV, 1 in 40 for ALV and RCVMV, and 1 in 100 for WCMV and CYMV.