Abstract

The properties and mode of transmission of strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRV) are described. Natural infections have been found, in several widely separated localities, on cultivated and wild rosaceous species - strawberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, black currant - and on elder (Caprifoliaceae), but so far no diseases in these plants have definitely been associated with SLRV. Similarly, SLRV was transmitted mechanically to a wide range of hosts, many of which it infected symptomlessly. SLRV is transmitted by Xiphinema diversicaudatum (Micoletsky), has polyhedral-shaped particles of about 26 mu diameter, and has other features that suggest it should be classified along with a group of other similar soil-borne viruses.