EFFECTS OF TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRUS ON EARLY LEAF DEVELOPMENT IN TOBACCO

Tepfer , Sanford S. (U. Oregon, Eugene.), and Meyer Chessin . Effects of tobacco mosaic virus on early leaf development in tobacco. Amer. Jour. Bot. 46(7): 496–509. Illus. 1959.—At certain stages of infection, tobacco mosaic virus causes the formation of highly abnormal tobacco leaves classified here as narrow-bladed leaves and “shoestring” leaves. The development and anatomy of these types are described. The “shoestring” leaf in its extreme form is entirely radial in symmetry, with no vestige of a lamina. This suppression of dorsiventrality is expressed to a lesser degree in narrow-bladed leaves and in transitional forms. The lack of or reduction of dorsiventrality results directly from the absence of or reduced activity of the marginal meristems of the leaf primordium. There is a general reduction in meristematic activity in the primordium that causes reduced length as well as reduced laminal development.