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Virus-like Particles Associated with Two Diseases of Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott in the Solomon Islands
Abstract
SUMMARY
Bacilliform virus-like particles of two sizes are found associated with the diseases ‘Alomae’ and ‘Bobone’ of Colocasia esculenta in the Solomon Islands. Neither kind of particle was transmitted mechanically or by aphids. The smaller particles were similar in size and shape to cocoa swollen-shoot virus and measured 125 × 28 to 29 nm in negative stain. In partially purified preparations their sedimentation coefficient was 285 S. In thin sections of diseased C. esculenta they were found in the cytoplasm of phloem sieve tubes loosely aggregated with amorphous material, or packed closely, but haphazardly, in bundles. The larger particles were found in sieve tubes, companion cells and mesophyll. They measured 300 to 335 × 50 to 55 nm and in transverse sections showed three electron-dense layers, a central core about 9 nm in diam., an inner annulus approx. 28 nm thick and an outer annulus 3 to 5 nm thick. Large particles were found in the perinuclear space but not within the inner nuclear membrane; they were associated with ‘viroplasms’ and occurred commonly in membrane-bound vesicles. They apparently matured by budding from cytoplasmic membranes.
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© Journal of General Virology 1973