BIOLOGIA PLANTARIYlVI (PRAHA)

1 (2) : 123--125, 1959

Root Formation in Plants Infeeted with Yellows-type Viruses

JAN Z~VADA a n d VLK VALENTA

Institute of Virology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava
Received October 11, 1958

Souhrn

Byl sledovhn vliv infekce stolburem a 5s. metlovitostl brambor typu II na tvorbu
ko~enfi u ~izkfi rajSat. Ob~ choroby potlaSuji signifikantn~i tvorbu ko~enfi, jsou-li
jejich symptomy pln~ vyvinuty. Metlovitost mSla v~razn~j~tl vliv ne~. stolbur.
Infekee t~tmito ~loutenkov:~miviry tak~ zn~n~ zvy~uje variabflitu ve vg~zeko~enfi.

S u m m a r y . R o o t f o r m a t i o n was studied in cuttings from t o m a t o plants infected

with stolbur a n d Czechoslovak t y p e I I p o t a t o witches' b r o o m viruses. A highly
significant difference in r o o t f o r m a t i o n was always f o u n d in plants w i t h
clear-cut disease s y m p t o m s . P o t a t o witches' b r o o m virus inhibited t h e r o o t
g r o w t h more t h a n stolbur. I n all cases, diseased plants showed a greater varia-
bility in t h e weights of roots t h a n h e a l t h y controls.

P l a n t viruses v e r y f r e q u e n t l y affect, and in t h e m a j o r i t y o f cases inhibit,

g r o w t h o f the infected plants. Yellows-type viruses v e r y o f t e n cause m a r k e d
morphological changes in various p l a n t organs. I t could, therefore, be assumed
t h a t in such cases t h e changes in m e t a b o l i s m o f g r o w t h substances would be
m u c h more deep-seated t h a n in o t h e r virus infections.

123
 124 J . Z . ~ . V A D A a n d V. V A L E N T A

Investigations were carried out into the effect of infection with two yellows-
type viruses, stolbur and potato witches' broom, on root formation, which is
known to depend strongly on growth substances.
Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicumL., variety Champion) were inoculated
b y grafting at the 6--7 leaf stage. At certain intervals after inoculation, shoots
with about 4 fully developed leaves were cut off and fixed individually in

Table 1. R o o t f o r m a t i o n in t o m a t o p l a n t s infected w i t h yellows-type viruses

n x 3.sxmg. x 3.sx v t(N ) p

% % %
1. H20 K 20 254 ~ 3 . 2 0 100 3 . 7.9 35 m

S 21 238 4- 3 . 2 8 94 3 . 1 1 . 0 35 0.46 n

WB 18 120 3 . 2 3 47 3 . 9.1 86 4-35 b

IAA K 21 550 3.39 1 0 0 1 3 . 7"1 33
S 21 488 3.55 89 -- 3 . 1 0 . 0 51 0.95 n

WB 19 167 3.26 30 3 . 4'7 67 8.23 b

H~O K 20 361 3 . 4 5 1 0 0 3 . 12-5 56 I

S 20 198 3 . 4 1 [ 55 4- 3 . 1 1 " 4 93 2.68

WB 20 84 4- 3 . 2 2 ! 234-3. 6"1 119 5.47 b
i
IAA K 20 384 4- 3 . 3 0 ] I 0 0 4- 3 . 7-8 35
S 20 2 1 9 3 . 29 57 ~ 3 . 7.5 59 3.98 b
WB 20 103 4- 3 . 1 9 26 4- 3 . 5.0 83 7.95 b
I

3. H20 K 20 411 ~=_ 3 . 14 100-- 3. 3.4 15

S 19 181 3 . 2 2 44 3 . 5.4 53 8-85 b
IAA K 20 4 3 5 4 - 3 . 44 100 3 . 10-1 48
S 20 95 3 . 2 1 22 3 . 4.8 101 6.63 b

I I
4. H~O K 19 185 3 . 22 100 3.11.9 53
S 20 27 3. 8 15 3 2-1 137 6.62 b

IAA K 20 163 3.13 100 3. 8.0

i S 20 16 3. 5 10 3.1
36
156
i --
10.29 b
I I J
I A A , H~O v a r i a t i o n s of e x p e r i m e n t w i t h a n d w i t h o u t t r e a t m e n t w i t h indoleacetie acid; K, S, W B ,
h e a l t h y controls, p l a n t s infected w i t h s t o l b u r a n d p o t a t o witches' b r o o m ; n n u m b e r of cases;
.~ m e d i a n ; sx m e d i a n error; v P e a r s o n ' s coefficient of variability; l) significance of the difference
{after F i s h e r ' s tables of t values): n difference n o t significant {over 5 % limit of significance),
a difference highly significant {l~o--0-1~/o limit of significance), b difference h i g h l y significant
(over 0.1~o limit of significance); t(N } value of t criterion for respective n u m b e r of degrees of
freedom
N = n1 + n2--2

x~ - - x~
t(~) Ys~ ~ - sx~.,
 J. ZAVADA and V. VALENTA

ROOT FORMATION IN Y E L L O W S INFECTED PLANTS

Fig. 1--3. T o m a t o c u t t i n g s f r o m h e a l t h y controls (1), f r o m p l a n t s i n f e c t e d w i t h s t o l b u r (2)

a n d p o t a t o witches' b r o o m (3) f r o m e x p e r i m e n t 2. C u t t i n g s w i t h m i n i m u m , a v e r a g e a n d
m a x i m u m root f o r m a t i o n are s h o w n . P h o t o g r a p h b y Valenta.
ROOT FORMATION IN PLANTS INFECTED WITI-I YELLOWS TYPE VIRUSES 125

openings of plastic plates, which were placed on the top of five litre glass
vessels, t w e n t y shoots in each vessel, l~ooting was carried out in regularly
changed tap water in the light at room temperature. Each experiment had two
variations: in the first the shoots were placed directly in water, in the second
t h e y were treated with 10 -~ M. solution of indoleacetic acid for 24 hours.
About 2 cm. of the shoots were immersed into the water or IAA solution.
After a fortnight the roots were cut off with a scalpel from each shoot, lightly
dried with filter paper and weighed.
I n experiments 1 and 2 stolbur virus strain ~s 7/55 of medium virulence,
and Czechoslovak type I I potato witches' broom virus strain ~sl/55 (VALE:~TX
1958) were used. In experiments 3 and 4 stolbur virus strain ~s 9/55, also
of medium virulence, was used. The plants for the first two experiments were
grafted on April 21, 1956, and the shoots for the first and second experiments
were cut off 30 and 63 days after grafting, respectively. I n the first case only
some of the stolbur infected plants showed slight symptoms, others were
without symptoms, and most of the witches' broom infected plants had
clear-cut symptoms. I n all the other experiments the plants showed fully
developed disease symptoms. For experiments 3 and 4 the plants were grafted
on June 27, 1957, and shoots for rooting were cut off 43 and 105 days later,
respectively.
In plants with developed disease symptoms a highly significant difference
in root formation was always found. Witches' broom inhibited root growth
more t h a n stolbur (Tab. 1, Fig. 1--3). I n all cases the infected plants showed
an increased variability of root formation, expressed by Pearson's coefficient
of variability v, as compared with healthy plants.

Referenees

VALENTA, V. : P o t a t o w i t c h e s ' b r o o m in Czechoslovakia. Proc. 3rd Conf. P o t a t o Virus D i s e a s e s ,

L i s s e - W a g e n i n g e n 1957, 2 4 6 - - 2 5 0 , V e e n m a n et Zonen, W a g e n i n g e n 1958.

Address: J a n ZAvada, p r o m . biolog a n d D r Vlk V a l e n t a , I n s t i t u t e of Virology, C z e c h o s l o v a k

A c a d e m y o f Sciences, B r a t i s l a v a , Czechoslovakia.

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