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Disease Note. Absence of Transmission of Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus from Seeds of Pumpkin. M. L. Gleason, Department of Plant Pathology, Iowa State University, Ames, 50011. R. Provvidenti, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, 14456. Plant Dis. 74:828. Accepted for publication 10 July 1990. Copyright 1990 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-74-0828D. Seeds harvested from 30 pumpkin (Cucumis melo L.) fruits infected
with zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) grouped on the basis of
mild, moderate, and severe symptoms were planted in pasteurized
soil in a greenhouse that was free of insects. At the six- to eightleaf
stage, only three of 6,800 seedlings grew abnormally, showing
foliar distortion, mosaic, and stunting. The causal agent in these three
plants was identified as squash mosaic virus by serology, electron
microscopy, and diagnostic species. The tests failed to demonstrate
that ZYMV was seed-transmitted in pumpkins. Other researchers have
also failed to confirm this mode of dissemination for ZYMV (2). A
claim of seed transmission of ZYMV in squash (1) has not been
confirmed. |