ISOLATION OF TOMATO MOSAIC-VIRUS FROM RED SPRUCE

A tobamovirus was transmitted to Chenopodium quinoa from a purified, composite 40-g needle sample collected from red spruce on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. The virus was identified as tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) based on host range and symptomatology and supported by immunoelectron microscopy (IEM). The isolate was indistinguishable from an isolate of ToMV recovered from water on Whiteface Mountain in 1989. The virus also was detected in needle concentrates and/or crude needle and root extracts from 13 of 19 red spruce trees by IEM and/or direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). IEM was five- to 10-fold more sensitive for detection of ToMV in conifer tissue than direct ELISA. This is the first report of the isolation of a plant virus from red spruce.