EXPRESSION OF RESISTANCE TO CMV MIGRATION IN PEPPER SEEDLINGS

Previous studies have shown that the partially resistant genotypes of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), 'Milord' and 'Vania' are able to localize CMV infection in some shoots of the plants when inoculated at an adult stage. We have observed that the virus migration is restricted to the inoculated cotyledons when young seedlings of these genotypes are inoculated with the Fulton CMV/N strain. In the same conditions, susceptible genotypes become systematically infected. We have shown that the level of resistance expression depends on the plant development stage, the environmental conditions and the inoculum concentration. The most favourable conditions to discriminate resistance to CMV migration at an early stage of plant development have been defined.