Electron Microscopical and Serological Detection of Virus‐like Particles Associated with Lettuce Big Vein Disease

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Abstract
Very labile rod‐shaped particles measuring 324 and 152 nm × 18 nm were isolated only from lettuce plants affected with lettuce big vein (LBV) but not from healthy ones. An antiserum to these particles was prepared which enabled us to diagnose LBV‐affected plants, using immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM) and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Clearly positive reactions were obtained in ISEM and ELISA even when symptoms of LBV‐affected plants raised in soil from various locations were indistinct. Higher ELISA values were obtained with extracts from leaves than with those from roots. In ISEM high numbers of particles were trapped from extracts of LBV‐affected plants with antiserum to tobacco stunt virus.