November 19, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Terence L. Day - 509/335-2806 (office)
509/334-1619 (Home)
SIDEBAR: Producing Virus-Free Propagating Material
PULLMAN, Wash. -- How do Washington State University scientists produce virus-free propagating material for the world's deciduous tree fruit industry?
After all, there's no "magic bullet" to kill viruses.
The process is deceptively simple. Here's how they do it. When someone asks the National Research Support Project 5 to produce virus free materials, they are asked to send eight-10 "sticks" of bud wood. International shipments are accompanied by an APHIS importation tag and permit. These are sent to the Port of Seattle where APHIS inspects, repackages and forwards it to the NRSP 5 lab at WSU's Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center near Prosser.
Upon receipt, the package is opened and three procedures begin. Scientists propagate a "reference" tree by grafting buds onto root stock. The resulting tree, which will be grown for two years, is used as a check to ensure that other processes are properly done. Scientists then graft portions of the same sticks onto a series of virus indicator plants to determine which viruses are present.
The third procedure removes viruses from some buds by prolonged growth in heat chambers maintained at a constant 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 16 hours of artificial light each day. They are forced to grow so fast that viruses cannot translocate fast enough to infect new tissue. When the resulting buds are about the size of a match head, technicians remove the virus-free tissue and graft it onto virus-free rootstocks.
These tiny tips begin growing in about seven days in moist chamber conditions at 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit. As the new plants grow they are subjected to a series of screenings for all known viruses. If any are found to be infected, they are destroyed.
Virus-free material is permitted to go through a dormant period, then checked again. If viruses are not found, it is ready to be released.
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