DETECTION OF PINEAPPLE CLOSTEROVIRUS, A POSSIBLE CAUSE OF MEALYBUG WILT OF PINEAPPLE

A systematic analysis of virus purification methods was made to maximize yields of pineapple closterovirus.
Various purification procedures, plant tissues, extraction buffers, enzymes, and detergents were evaluated.
From this analysis, an improved purification method has been developed that increases virus quantity (yield) and quality (number of intact virus particles). The closterovirus has been purified from a pineapple clone which was a "positive source" of mealybug wilt of pineapple, used by Dr.
W. Carter 50 years ago.
A routine procedure was developed to analyze dsRNA from infected pineapple leaf tissue.
A high molecular weight (≈ 8.5 x 10⁶ daltons) and some lower molecular weight dsRNAs were also detected from the "positive source" pineapple clone used by Dr.
W. Carter.
A cDNA library was constructed with the dsRNA from pineapple.
The cDNA clones were tested to determine their specificity to the virus in Northern blot and dot-blot hybridizations.

I International Pineapple Symposium

J.S. Hu, A. Gonsalves, D. Sether, D.E. Ullman

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1993.334.44