An ultrastructural and immunocytochemical study of the wheat soil-borne mosaic virus, Polymyxa graminis relationship

The effects of various fixatives on viral suspensions, the progress of wheat soil-borne mosaic virus (WSBMV) through Florida 302 wheat, and WSBMV relationship to Polymyxa graminis Led. were studied at the subcellular level. The utilization of electron immunocytochemical techniques using gold-labelled antibodies on viral suspensions and thin sections confirmed that (1) paraformaldehyde provided the best preservation of viral morphology, viral concentration, and antigenicity; (2) P; graminis is the actual vector of the virus; and (3) the labelling pattern of the fungal structures and plant chloroplasts suggests that they may play a role in the synthesis of some viral proteins.