Rapid Immunological Detection of Potato Viruses in Plant Tissue Squashes. F. Bravo- Almonacid, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI)-CONICET, Vuelta de Obligado 2490, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina. L. Haim, and A. Mentaberry. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI)-CONICET, Vuelta de Obligado 2490, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Plant Dis. 76:574-578. Accepted for publication 13 January 1992. Copyright 1992 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-76-0574.

Squash-blot immunoassay was employed to detect potato viruses X and Y in samples obtained from potato leaves and tubers. Comparative assays were performed by both enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and squash-blot molecular hybridization. Percentages of agreement between these three methods in leaf samples were 95.0% for potato virus X and 97.2% for potato virus Y. About 0.25 ng of virus per 10 mg of leaf tissue could be detected. The method is comparable with ELISA in terms of simplicity, rapidity, and cost. The procedure was also used to analyze virus distribution in different potato tissues.