THE EFFECTS OF VARYING THE WATER SUPPLY OF PLANTS ON THEIR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO INFECTION WITH VIRUSES

Increasing the amount of water supplied to plants before they were inoculated with viruses greatly increased their susceptibility to infection; plants that received unlimited water produced 10 or more times as many local lesions as plants that received only enough to prevent wilting. Susceptibility was increased throughout the year, but the full response occurred in 2 weeks in winter and 4 weeks in summer. Plants that received unlimited water for the 2 weeks immediately preceding inoculation were no more susceptible than those that received it during the previous 2 weeks, although the external appearance of the plants differed at the time of inoculation. Varying water supply after inoculation did not affect the numbers of lesions.
The differences in susceptibility to infection produced by differential watering were decreased, but not abolished, by growing plants under shade or by incorporating a diatomaceous earth in the inoculum.
Increasing water produced plants with larger and more succulent leaves; the cuticular layer was thinner, and the palisade tissue was less regularly arranged than in the plants kept dry. The increased susceptibility caused by an abundant water supply may be at least partly due to these structural differences, which allow the leaf to be damaged more easily when rubbed with inocula and so present more entry points for virus particles.