POTATO LEAFROLL VIRUS DETECTION BY RT-PCR IN FIELD-COLLECTED APHIDS

A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was a pplied to analyze preen peach aphids (Myzus persicae Sulzer) collected from yellow-pan traps between 1988 and 1994, from New Brunswick comme rcial potato fields, for potato leafroll virus (PLRV). The RT-PCR tech nique was also used to assess the PLRV content of Myzus persicae Sulze r, Aphis nasturtii Kaltenbach, and Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas caugh t in yellow-pan traps from selected fields in 1995. RT-PCR bands speci fic for PLRV were detected in all three species, indicating that they all can acquire the virus. The usefulness of the RT-PCR procedure in d etermining the PLRV content of aphid catches and thus assisting in dis ease management recommendations is discussed.