VIEW ARTICLE

Additional Evidence for Possible Autolytic Activity During Glutaraldehyde Fixation of Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus-Infected Corn. Willem G. Langenberg, Research Plant Pathologist, North Central Region, ARS, USDA, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 68503; Helen F. Schroeder, Laboratory Technician, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 68503. Phytopathology 64:750-751. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-750.

Fixation of corn leaf tissue infected with maize dwarf mosaic virus, strain B, was obtained after vacuum infiltration and 5 min fixation with a 0.1 M phosphate-citrate buffered 5% glutaraldehyde solution. Tissue was postfixed, without washing, in buffered 1% osmic acid for 15 min. Labile laminated aggregates and virus were preserved by this procedure but, as previously reported, not after conventional glutaraldehyde-osmic acid fixation. Preservation is attributed to prevention of enzymic degradation by brief fixation in glutaraldehyde.