DISSEMINATION AND DETECTION OF PEANUT CLUMP VIRUS IN GROUNDNUT SEED

Experiments were done to assess the role of seed-transmission in the d issemination of peanut clump virus (PCV) in groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.), and the usefulness of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting the virus in infected groundnut seed. The virus was pres ent in 7.5% of seedling progeny from infected plants and could be dete cted in 16.5% of the seeds by ELISA. When groundnut seeds were grown i n a field contaminated by the virus, it was shown that by roguing the infected plants, only 0.1% of the seeds from the remaining plants cont ained the virus. It was also established that the level of contaminati on of seeds by the virus was inversely proportional to the seed size.