Electron Microscopy of the Formation of Carnation Etched Ring Virus Intracellular Inclusion Bodies

In two previous papers, Rubio-Huertos et al. (1968a), Fujisawa, Rubio-Huertos & Matsui (1971), inclusion bodies induced by carnation etched ring virus (CERV) were studied by light and electron microscopy. The inclusion bodies were composed of a dense matrix and virus particles. They were not limited by membranes and their general appearance, both in the light and electron microscopes, was very similar to that described for cauliflower mosaic virus (CAMV) Rubio (1956), Rubio-Huertos et al. (1968a) to which CEMV is serologically related, Hollings & Stone (1969).

In this paper, we describe the formation of these intracellular inclusions, and the presence of CERV virus particles in the nuclei of Dianthus barbatus infected cells.

Several small plants of Dianthus barbatus were inoculated mechanically with crude sap. of Dianthus caryophyllus L. infected with CERV. Samples were taken at intervals from the infected plants and fixed and embedded in Durcupan, as described previously, Rubio-Huertos et al. (1968b).