Determination of Cucumber Mosaic Virus Titer in Muskmelon by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay and Correlation with Aphid Transmission

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Abstract
Percentage transmission by individual Aphis gossypii and spectrophotometric readings in indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to estimate cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) titers in muskmelon plants overa 7-wk period. Results indicated a high correlation between the two techniques with two distinct CMV isolates. One week after inoculation, the frequency of aphid transmission of CMV-243 (virulent isolate) was significantly higher than that of CMV-241 (mild isolate), and ELISA absorbance reading at 405 nm were significantly higher for isolate CMV-243. The apparent rapid increase of CMV-243 titer 1 wk after infection could provide one explanation for the difference in spread of the two CMV isolates observed in the field. Similar tested were conducted weekly, comparing mixed infections of CMV-243 and watermelon mosaic virus strain 2 (WMV-2) to single infections of each virus. There was no apparent difference in levels of aphid transmission or ELISA values from plants infected with the viruses singly or with mixed functions.