Leaf mottling of Spartina species caused by a newly recognised virus, spartina mottle virus

The cause of a previously undocumented leaf mottling of Spartina species was investigated. Negatively stained preparations of sap from mottled leaves revealed flexuous particles 725 × 12 nm. Pinwheels with associated laminar inclusion bodies were observed in thin sections of affected mesophyll cells. The virus was purified from infected Spartina anglica plants and had a sedimentation coefficient in 0·015 m borate of 150S. The virus was transmitted by inoculation of sap to healthy Spartina anglica, but not to a range of other graminaceous or dicotyledonous species tested. It was distantly serologically related to agropyron mosaic virus, but not to other viruses with similar morphology; the name spartina mottle virus is proposed.