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The ameliorating effect of zinc on symptoms of phyllody virus (strawberry green‐petal) in white clover
Author(s) -
CARR A. J. H.,
STODDART J. L.
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1963.tb03693.x
Subject(s) - biology , phyllody , shoot , zinc , ruminant , horticulture , trifolium repens , monogastric , inflorescence , botany , legume , crop , agronomy , polymerase chain reaction , biochemistry , materials science , gene , restriction fragment length polymorphism , metallurgy
SUMMARY Water‐culture experiments with six concentrations of zinc between a trace and 20 p.p.m. showed that the symptoms of clover phyllody were ameliorated by zinc. The proportion of symptomless flower‐heads increased with higher concentration, and when pollinated these set viable, virus‐free seed. Infected plants produced approximately twice as many inflorescences as uninfected plants at each concentration, but the addition of zinc decreased the number produced. Leaf‐bronzing typical of the phyllody syndrome was greater in infected plants and increased with higher concentration, but necrotic spotting attributable to zinc toxicity was more marked in uninfected plants. Zinc at 20 p.p.m. was generally toxic. The dry weight of shoot and root decreased at the higher levels of zinc, and at a lower level with infected than with uninfected plants. Zinc content of root and shoot increased with greater concentrations in the culture solution, being higher in the roots of infected plants than of uninfected ones but less in the shoots. Stolons of infected plants bearing symptomless inflorescences reverted to the full phyllody condition when transplanted into normal soil. The relationship of zinc to normal metabolic processes in the host, including earlier work on hormone levels, is discussed. It is considered that the technique would be of practical value to the legume breeder.