Detection of Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid in the Pollen and Various Parts of Potato Plant Pollinated with Viroid-Infected Pollen. R. P. Singh, Agriculture Canada Research Branch, Research Station, P.O. Box 20280, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada E3B 4Z7. A. Boucher, and T. H. Somerville. Agriculture Canada Research Branch, Research Station, P.O. Box 20280, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada E3B 4Z7. Plant Dis. 76:951-953. Accepted for publication 23 April 1992. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1992. DOI: 10.1094/PD-76-0951.

Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) was detected in pollen grains from PSTVd-infected potato cultivar Katahdin by return polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Pollination of the flowers of healthy Katahdin plants with pollen from PSTVd-infected plants resulted in infection of leaves at the base of inflorescences, apical leaves, and tubers. Electrophoretic analysis of fruits indicated sporadic PSTVd infection of sepals, fruit skin, and fruit pulp. True potato seed from each fruit was 35–66% infected with PSTVd. Percentage of seed infection varied with individual plants and was not affected by the location of an inflorescence or by the number of fruits produced on the same inflorescence.