North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Use of indicator plants is the older method.  More commonly, serum tests are
used now that give results in a few days in most cases.  Joseph Postman -
can you give us more info?  Is the ELIZA test still the main one? 
----------
>From: jhecksel@voyager.net
>To: nafex@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [nafex] Sterilizing scions
>Date: Sat, Feb 24, 2001, 9:14 PM
>

>This thread is similar to one we had on Prunus seeds.  If I remember
>write, the major concern is virus (virii?).  Chlorine bleach will do a
>fine job sterilizing the exterior of the scion, but virus is in the
>cells.
>
>Cultivars are cleaned up by budding onto a very vigorous rootstock and
>then providing optimum growth conditions...maybe just a bit on the warm
>side.  The warmth slows down the virus infection and the growing tip of
>the plant out runs the virus...if only by a little bit.
>
>The very end of the whip is harvested while it is still growing at a
>gang-buster rate.  It is grafted onto a virus free rootstock and housed
>in a chamber.  Buds are removed from the plant that is now *hopefully*
>virus free and are placed on indicator plants.  Indicator plants are
>cultivars that produce visible symptoms when infected with virus
>diseases.  This is a key point:  With most cultivars/species, you cannot
>tell if a plant has virus.  These plants without visible symptoms are
>called "latent".  Moving buds to indicator plants is done several times
>jsut to be sure.  If all the indicator plants are symptom free after a
>waiting period, the plant is considered free of latent virus.
>
>This process is a little more involved than most home fruit growers are
>willing to go through.  You need several insect proof enclosures as well
>as vigorous rootstocks and indicator plants.  But I believe that USDA is
>willing to licence you for importation if you can demonstrate you can
>and will follow the correct protocols.
>

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