DETECTION OF CARDAMINE CHLOROTIC FLECK CARMOVIRUS IN SOIL BY THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Cardamine chlorotic fleck carmovirus (CCFV) has been found only in pla nts of Cardamine lilacina in the Kosciusko alpine area of Australia. C CFV was detected in infected plants by the polymerase chain reaction ( PCR); the number and sizes of DNA bands produced after PCR with two pa irs of primers differed due to genomic sequence variation among isolat es. The data allowed construction of a neighbour-joining tree. PCR als o detected CCFV in extracts of soil in which infected C. lilacina was growing, indicating that CCFV, like other carmoviruses, is soilborne. Further, CCFV was transmitted to healthy cuttings of C. lilacina grown in soil containing CCFV obtained from around naturally infected plant s.