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Disease Detection and Losses

Viruslike Particles Transmitted by and Detected in Spawn of the Cultivated Mushroom, Agaricus bisporus. S. M. Tavantzis, Graduate assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802; S. H. Smith, professor of plant pathology, Department of Plant Pathology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802. Phytopathology 69:104-107. Accepted for publication 22 August 1978. Copyright 1979 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-69-104.

Viruslike particles (VLPs) were detected in healthy appearing spawn of Agaricus bisporus by serology and electron microscopy. These VLPs also were detected in mycelial cultures and sporophores produced from the indexed spawn. Serologic indexing of spawn was a reliable method for detecting mushroom VLPs.