ABSTRACT
IDENTIFICATION OF CARNATION MOTTLE VIRUS IN CHILE

Germán Gallardo M.1 y Mario Alvarez A.2
 

Carnation Mottle Virus (CMV), hitherto unreported in Chile was purified by precipitation with polyethylene glycol-6.000 from diseased carnatons or Chenopodium quinoa.
Serological tests done with an antiserum prepared with the Chilean isolate and tested against an English isolate of CMV demonstrated that both isolates were identical. Mechanical inoculation using purified virus produced local lesions on Chenopodium amaranticolor, C. album and C. quinoa and systemic symptoms on Saponaria vaccaria. Systemic invasion with no visible symptoms was demonstrated in carnations, while the virus did not infect Gomphrena globosa. Thermal inactivation point was between 86-88ºC and dilution point was higher than 10-6. Electron microphotographs revealed that the Chilean and the English isolates of CMV were identical in shape and size.

Keywords:
1Ingeniero Agrónomo.
2Ing. Agr., Ph. d., Investigador Estación Experimental La Platina, Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, INIA, Casilla 5427, Santiago, Chile y Profesor de Protección de Plantas, Escuela de Agronomía, Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Casilla , Quillota, Chile.