Transmission and Field Spread of Raspberry Bushy Dwarf Virus. Murray A. Bulger, Graduate Student, Department of Plant Science, University of British Columbia. Richard Stace-Smith, and Robert R. Martin. Agriculture Canada Research Station, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1X2. Plant Dis. 74:514-517. Accepted for publication 8 January 1990. Copyright 1990 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-74-0514.

The field spread of raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) in red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) cultivar Skeena was mapped using a double-antibody sandwich form of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The incidence of infected plants was 2, 16, and 84% for the third, fifth, and seventh years, respectively. Flowers of R. parviflorus, R. spectabilis, R. procerus, R. ursinus, and cultivated R. idaeus containing thrips were sampled at two locations in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Total numbers of thrips were relatively high for R. parviflorus and R. procerus compared to red raspberry, R. spectabilis, and R. ursinus. Results of pollen washes and serological blocking of pollen surfaces indicated that RBDV was located on and probably in the pollen grains of R. parviflorus. Onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) did not transmit RBDV when they were allowed to feed on caged Chenopodium quinoa plants that had been dusted with RBDV-infested R. parviflorus pollen.