Movement ofSugarcane mosaic virusin plants of resistant and susceptible maize lines

Abstract

The movement of Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) in the leaves and entire plants of three maize lines was studied under greenhouse conditions. One line was considered resistant and the other two showed a different level of susceptibility. The effect of the growth stage at which the maize plants were inoculated on SCMV movement was also examined. None of the lines tested was fully immune, even in the resistant line the inoculated leaves were infected. Nevertheless, SCMV was detected in the inoculated leaves 7 days later than in the susceptible lines and did not spread into the newly developed leaves. In the lines with the different level of susceptibility SCMV moved into the newly developed leaves at a different rate and in the less susceptible line the spread was also affected by the development stage of maize at inoculation. The spread of the virus from the inoculated parts of the leaves into the non-inoculated ones was also considerably faster in the highly susceptible line, compared with the susceptible a...