B. DIKOVA and D. HRISTOVA
Plant Protection Institute, BG-2230 Kostinbrod, Bulgaria
DIKOVA, B. and D. HRISTOVA, 2002. Diagnostics of squash mosaic virus, zucchini yellow mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus in squash seeds. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 8: 519–526
ACP-ELISA was used for diagnostics of economically significant seed transmitted viruses such as squash mosaic virus (SqMV), zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in different species seeds. Viruses were found in seed germs, in seedlings 2–4 and 12–14 leaf, in flower buds, seed vessels and stamens of Cucurbita maxima, C. pepo and C. moschata. A hypothesis was made that the transmission through the pollen is less frequent and pollination is not a determinant factor for the spreading of those viruses in crops. The main virus transmission is probably through infected ovules. Seed germs are preferred for mass scale screening.