Biological and physicochemical properties of cymbidium mosaic virus

Abstract

The isolated cymbidium mosaic virus (CMV) is one of the most wide-spread and dangerous pathogens that infects promising varieties of orchids. It causes characteristic symptoms on orchid plants, which are manifested in the form of a mosaic. Over time, these areas are necrotized, leading to the stop of flowering the plants and reducing their decorative value. The CyMV is not spread by insects-carriers, but is transmitted by the mechanical inoculation with juice. Electron microscopy revealed flexible filamentous viral particles with a length of about 500 nm. The purified viral preparation is sedimented with a single peak with a sedimentation coefficient of 142S. The floating density of the virus in the preformed CsCl gradient corresponded to 1.3 g/cm3. The electrophoretic analysis of proteins in polyacrylamide gel under denatured conditions showed the presence of two polypeptides with molecular weights of 27 and 31 kDa. RNA CyMV has a molecular weight of 2 · 106 Da. In the translation system of rabbit reticulocytes in vitro, a protein with a molecular weight of about 27 kDa is synthesized. The obtained data allow us to refer CyMV to the group of potexviruses.