Fine structure of plant cells infected with bean pod mottle virus

Abstract

Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) was present in epidermal cells, mesophyll cells, and all component cells of the vascular bundle including matured sieve and tracheal elements. Virions were present in the ground cytoplasm and central vacuole within infected cells. Honeycomblike bundles of spheres bounded by a membrane were also present in vacuoles, and four types of structural changes of mitochondria were noted in infected cells of a systemic host. Proliferation of the membrane system was an early effect of infection. This occurred in the plasmalemma, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria to produce vesicles, concentric membrane aggregates, loose membranes and tubules. BPMV also induced filamentous inclusions in cytoplasm of both hosts. In the systemically infected host striking changes in ultrastructure were evident at an early stage of infection.