Detection of tomato ringspot virus in white ash and adjacent vegetation in central New York

Abstract

Tissue samples from 15 woody and herbaceous plant species, including white ash (Fraxinusamericana L.), were collected monthly during the spring and summer of 1985 and indexed by ELISA for tomato ringspot virus. The virus was detected in 12 of 23 white ash indexed, most frequently in the roots. Of 88 white ash seedlings inoculated with purified tomato ringspot virus, the virus was detected by ELISA in 7 seedlings after two cycles of growth and dormancy, and in only 1 seedling after one cycle of growth and dormancy postinoculation. The virus was also detected in Fragariavirginiana Mill., Prunusvirginiana L., Rubusoccidentalis L., R. strigosus Michx., Solidagocanadensis L., Trifoliumpratense L., T. repens L., and Daucuscarota L. growing within 50 m of infected ash.