Influence of chemotherapy on development and production of virus free in vitro strawberry plants

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine effects of ribavirin on development and health status of in vitro grown strawberry cultivars 'Honeoye' and 'Elkat' infected with viruses Strawberry mild yellow-edge virus (SMYEV), Tomato ringspot virus (ToRSV) and Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV). Antiviral compound ribavirin was added in concentrations 20, 40, 80 and 160 mg/l to the same MS medium as for multiplication. Growth reduction was noted on medium with 160 mg/l ribavirin and to a lesser degree in the 40 and 80 mg/l treatments. At the end of chemotherapy, in vitro clones free of viruses detected previously in the initial plants were obtained for both selected cultivars across all ribavirin concentrations. The highest number of plants (94) with negative results of ELISA testing was noted on medium with the highest ribavirin concentration 160 mg/l and the lowest (73) on medium with the lowest concentration 20 mg/l of ribavirin. The treated plants look symptomless and appear morphologically equal to the untreated control plants. Results indicate that ribavirin treatment of in vitro plants is a suitable method for eliminating SMYEV, ToRSV and ArMV from strawberry.