The effect of asparagus virus infection on asparagus tissue culture

✍ Scribed by R. M. Vries-Paterson; T. A. Evans; C. T. Stephens

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 346 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-6857
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00043472

✦ Synopsis

The impact of asparagus virus I (AV-I), a potyvirus, and asparagus virus II (AV-II), an ilarvirus, on micropropagation of field-grown asparagus was studied. Apical shoot tips excised from singly or doubly-infected plants were slow to develop roots and had a 15 to 75% reduction in survival in culture, respectively, compared to those excised from virus-free plants. The four virus infection groups were ranked: virus-free > AV-II > AV-I >AV-I & II for capacity of explants to both root and survive in vitro.

Micropropagated plants infected with AV-II exhibited slight reductions in fresh and dry weights, with greater reductions associated with infection with AV-I and double infection, compared to the virus-free controls. Eighty-one virus-infected apical shoot tips yielded 7 (8.6%) virus-free clones, as determined by rub inoculation on indicator plants.