MOVEMENT OF CUCUMBER MOSAIC VIRUS IN RESISTANT PEPPER LINES

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) movement in L113 and L57 pepper lines resistant to this virus was studied. The virus presence was confirmed only in the blades and petioles epidermis of CMV inoculated leaves while the rest parts of the plants were virus free. On these leaves of L113, necrotic local lesions (typical hypersensitive response - HR) were formed whereas in L57 chlorotic spots appeared and a few days later the leaves fell. Despite the fact of only L113 possesses HR-mediated resistance to CMV, virus long-distance movement was similarly restricted in both pepper lines. El-microscopic observations have found regions consisting of optically almost empty dead cells in symptomless areas near the necrotic (L113) and chlorotic (L57) spots. The walls of these cells are incidentally crossed by dark-coloured plasmodesmata. The structural changes in plasmodesmata in still alive leaf cells also testify for their active participation in the virus movement through the leaf cells of CMV inoculated leaves. These cell changes were observed only in CMV inoculated leaves of both resistant pepper lines.