PRODUCTION OF PEANUT SEED FREE OF PEANUT STRIPE AND PEANUT MOTTLE VIRUSES IN FLORIDA

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seed free of both peanut stripe (PStV) an d peanut mottle (PMoV) potyviruses were harvested in 1986 1990 from vi rus-indexed, greenhouse-grown plants for field propagation. Neither vi rus was detected in field plots sown in 1987 and 1989 with virus-index ed, greenhouse-grown seed and isolated by at least 5 km from any comme rcial or experimental plantings. PMoV, but not PStV, was detected in a similar field plot sown in 1988 and located about 1.5 km from a 128-h a commercial field. PStV was detected in 247 of 497 plants in an exper imental breeder's field sown in 1988-1991 with seed infected with this virus but was detected in only one of 1,431 plants in a similar field located 13 km away and sown with virus-indexed, greenhouse-grown seed . PStV was not detected in Sunrunner peanut plants derived from seed t hat were virus-indexed in 1985, sown in a greenhouse in 1986, and fiel d-grown from 1987 to 1991.