Evidence for Identity of Plant Rhabdoviruses Causing Vein-Yellowing Diseases of Tomato and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. B. E. L. Lockhart, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108/Departement de Phytopathologie, Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II, Complexe Horticole, Agadir, Morocco. Plant Dis. 71:731-733. Accepted for publication 9 April 1987. Copyright 1987 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-0731.

A mechanically transmitted plant rhabdovirus associated with vein-yellowing symptoms in hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) in Morocco was similar to tomato vein-yellowing virus (TVYV) in particle morphology, dimensions, and symptoms on indicator Nicotiana species plants and was indistinguishable from TVYV in agar gel immunodiffusion tests. The virus was readily detected in infected H. rosa-sinensis by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) using TVYV immunoglobulin G. These findings suggest that TVYV is more widely distributed than is currently believed and may be spread by infected vegetative stock of H. rosa-sinensis.