Use ofNicotiana debneyi to detect viruses S,X and Y in potato seed stocks and relative susceptibility of six common varieties to potato virus S

Summary Nicotiana debneyi Domin. proved a reliable test plant for potato viruses S, X, and Y. Test plants with several leaves 6 cm long, were dusted with carborundum and rubbed with potato leaf sap, or with raw surfaces of cut tubers. The plants were then held at 20°C under approximately 250 ft cd light intensity on a 16–18 h photoperiod. Each of the 3 viruses, or X and Y combined, could be distinguished, but symptoms of S were obscured by those of X or Y. At two elite seed farms, virus S spread into virus-free stocks of the varietyNetted Gem. but little intoKatahdin. In greenhouse tests, 3 older varieties,Green Mountain, Irish Cobbler andNetted Gem, as a group, were more susceptible to PVS, when inoculated with infective sap, than the newer varieties,Katahdin, Kennebec andSebago.