NATURAL INFECTION OF CUCUMBER MOSAIC-VIRUS ON DIANTHUS-BARBATUS IN INDIA

Cucumber mosaic virus (serologically closely related to strains CMV-C and CMV-D) is reported for the first time as a natural infection of Dianthus barbatus causing leaf crinkle and stunting of plants. It was mechanically transmitted to healthy D. barbatus and Vaccaria pyramidata (Caryophyllaceae) and to other herbaceous test plants, and was also aphid-transmissible from D. barbatus to D. barbatus. A convenient host for multiplication and purification of the virus was Nicotiana rustica. The presence of CMV was confirmed in D. barbatus and also in V. pyramidata by Western immunoblotting, but the concentration was too low in both the hosts to detect the virus by agar double diffusion tests.