INTERGENERIC INFECTION AND PERSISTENCE OF ECTOCARPUS VIRUS-DNA IN KUCKUCKIA (PHAEOPHYCEAE, ECTOCARPALES)

Ectocarpoid brown algae are frequently infected by DNA viruses. With a PCR amplification technique that specifically detects Ectocarpus viru s DNA we confirmed that the Ectocarpus siliculosus virus can infect Ku ckuckia kylinii and persist in this host for several years. The same t echnique showed that 33 isolates of Kuckuckia from various Atlantic an d Pacific coasts were free of Ectocarpus virus DNA. A collection of ku ckuckia from a deep water habitat in the Canarian Archipelago showed m orphological symptoms of viral infection, which subsided during labora tory culture. These plants did not respond to the amplification of Ect ocarpus virus DNA. We conclude, that these plants were affected by an indigenous Kuckuckia virus, which is suppressed by the host under cult ure conditions.