Response of Burley Tobacco Cultivars and Certain Nicotiana spp. to Alfalfa Mosaic Virus Infection. E. C. Tedford, Research Specialist, Department of Agronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546. M. T. Nielsen, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546. Plant Dis. 74:956-958. Accepted for publication 15 May 1990. Copyright 1990 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-74-0956.

Thirteen burley tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) cultivars were inoculated separately with two alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) isolates collected in Kentucky and, in a different greenhouse experiment, with three AMV isolates obtained elsewhere. Isolate means for symptom expression were not significantly different, but cultivar means for this trait did vary. The cultivar Tn 86 had the severest symptom ratings, and all cultivars had some symptoms of AMV infection and showed positive ELISA reactions. In an evaluation of 15 Nicotiana spp. inoculated with one AMV isolate, several developed no symptoms of AMV infection but had positive ELISA, whereas only N. debneyi had no symptoms and a negative ELISA reading.