ALLEVIATION OF RESTRICTED SYSTEMIC SPREAD OF PEPPER MOTTLE POTYVIRUS IN CAPSICUM-ANNUUM CV AVELAR BY COINFECTION WITH A CUCUMOVIRUS

In the resistant Capsicum annuum 'Avelar,' pepper mottle potyvirus (Pe pMoV) antigen accumulated in inoculated leaves but not in uninoculated leaves by 21 days postinoculation (dpi). The amount of PepMoV antigen in the inoculated leaves of Avelar was significantly less than that i n comparable leaves from the susceptible control, C. annuum cv. NuMex R Naky. The accumulation and movement of PepMoV were examined using im mune-tissue blot analysis. PepMoV antigen was detected at 4 dpi in bot h genotypes in the inoculated central zone of the first two true leave s; however, PepMoV antigen was detected much sooner and at much higher concentrations in the uninoculated leaves of NuMex R Naky compared wi th Avelar. PepMoV was not detected in the first pair of uninoculated l eaves by 25 dpi, although viral antigen was detected in the stem below the inoculated leaves and in the first internode above the inoculated leaves. When Avelar plants were coinfected with PepMoV and cucumber m osaic cucumovirus, PepMoV antigen accumulation was no longer restricte d temporally or spatially within at least 50% of the Avelar plants.