Development of Serological Procedures for Rapid and Reliable Detection of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus in a Single Wheat Curl Mite

Authors

T. Mahmood, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Gary L. Hein, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Roy C. French, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

1997

Comments

Published in Plant Disease Vol. 81, No. 3, 1997. © 1997 The American Phytopathological Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is transmitted by the wheat curl mite (WCM), Aceria tosichella. Immunofluorescent and dot-immunobinding assays were developed to detect the presence of WSMV in single WCM. Virus-specific immunofluorescent microscopy detected WSMV near the anterior end of viruliferous WCM. With dot-immunobinding assay, WSMV was detected in WCM fed on WSMV-infected wheat (Triticum aestivum) but not in WCM maintained on healthy plants. Both immunofluorescent and dot-immunobinding assays were sufficiently sensitive to detect WSMV in individual WCM, providing a means to determine the percentage of viruliferous WCM in field collections.