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Disease Detection and Losses

Detection of the Cadang-Cadang Associated RNA in African Oil Palm and Buri Palm. J. W. Randles, Waite Agricultural Research Institute, University of Adelaide, South Australia 5064; Guido Boccardo(2), and Julita S. Imperial(3). (2)Laboratorio di Fitovirologia Applicata, via O. Vigliani 104, 10135 Turin, Italy; (3)Philippine Coconut Authority, Albay Research Center, Guinobatan, Albay 4908, The Philippines. Phytopathology 70:185-189. Accepted for publication 24 August 1979. Copyright 1980 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-70-185.

A low-molecular-weight RNA with the same apparent electrophoretic mobility in 3.3% polyacrylamide gels as the diagnostic viroid-like RNA associated with the cadang-cadang disease of coconut (ccRNA-1) has been detected in the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) and buri palm (Corypha elata Roxb.). Palms with the RNA displayed cadang-cadang-like symptoms in the field and came from within the area of distribution of the disease. A ³H-labeled DNA probe complementary to ccRNA-1 was used to show that these two species contained a low-molecular-weight RNA apparently with a nucleotide sequence the same as that of ccRNA-1. African oil palm and buri palm are therefore shown to be naturally infected hosts of cadang-cadang disease. These techniques failed to detect ccRNA-1 in specimens of three other palm species.