Identification and characterization of an isolate of peanut stunt virus from black locust mosaic tree in China

A virus isolated from a diseased black locust tree (Robinia pseudo accacia) in the suburb of Beijing was identified as peanut stunt virus (PSV),designated PSV Robinia isolate (PSV-R). PSV-R infected 14 of 24 species of plants in four families. The thermal inactivation point was 55-60℃. The dilution end point was 10 -4 -10 -5 and the longevity in vitro was 10 days.Aphid (Aphis craccivora Koch) transmitted the virus in a nonpersistent mamner. Virus particles were spherical with 30nm in diameter. An antiserum against PSV-R was produced with titers of 1∶1024 and 1∶256 in microprecipition and gel diffusion tests, respectively. Serologically PSV-R was closely related to PSV-Mi, distantly related to PSV-E. The molecular weight of PSV-R coat protein is about 26000D. PSV-R has four main components of RNAs with a small RNAs.