Further studies on Cynara Rhabdovirus.

Cynara rhabdovirus (CyRV) was isolated from symptomless artichoke plants in southern Italy using Nicotiana langsdorffii as susceptible host and immune serum to artichoke latent virus to eliminate this virus from inoculum. CyRV can infect several solanaceous species, has thermal inactivation point of 40-45°C, dilution end point between 10-2 and 10-5 and longevity in vitro at 4 and 20°C of 4-5 days and 6-24 h, respectively. It was purified and used for preparing antisera with homologous titre varying from 1: 16 to 1: 64. In decoration tests, the virus did not react against antisera to eggplant mottled dwarf virus (EMDV) and its antiserum did not decorate ivy vein clearing virus (IVCV). Ultrastructural aspects of CyRV infection in Datura stramonium and Nicotiana glutinosa were very like those described for the same virus in the past except for presence of longer virions which were often encountered in infected cells during this study.