Sorghum Stunt Mosaic. Dennis E. Mayhew, Plant Pathologist, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento 95814. Robert A. Flock, Entomologist, Imperial County Agriculture Department, El Centro, CA 92243. Plant Dis. 65:84-86. Copyright 1981 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-65-84.

Symptoms of a viruslike disease of sorghum in the Imperial Valley of California included chlorotic and necrotic mottling and streaking of leaves and severe stunting. Electron microscopy of leaf dips and sections showed bacilliform particles measuring 68 × 220 nm, and transmission tests showed that the leafhopper, Graminella sonora, was a vector. The virus was transmitted by leafhoppers to sorghum, corn, and wheat but not mechanically transmitted to any plant tested. The name sorghum stunt mosaic is proposed for this apparently new disease.