ISOLATION AND PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A TENUIVIRUS FROM WHEAT IN IRAN

A tenuivirus, tentatively designated Iranian wheat stripe virus (IWSV), was transmitted by the delphacid Unkanodes tanasijevici and induced dwarfing, striping and yellowing symptoms in wheat. It could also infect barley, oat, rice, rye, sorghum and a number of other gramineous species. The virus was purified from wheat by chloroform clarification and differential and density-gradient centrifugation. It formed several layers in density-gradient columns. Purified virus preparations had a UV absorption spectrum typical of nucleoproteins and contained flexuous supercoils of 8.7 nm and fine filaments of 4.3 nm width. The antiserum produced against the virus reacted with infected plant sap in agar-gel diffusion and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The virus could be readily detected in individual viruliferous planthoppers by ELISA. IWSV was serologically related to rice hoja blanca virus but not to maize stripe virus. The relationship of IWSV with other tenuiviruses is discussed.