Abstract
A comparative analysis of stunting was conducted at various temperatures to develop a simple and reliable method for evaluating the disease symptoms of the chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd). CSVd-free plants had significantly greater plant height than CSVd-carrying plants at 22°C and 24°C. No significant differences in plant height were detected at high and low temperatures. These results suggest that the in vitro evaluation of plant growth at an appropriate temperature might provide a useful method for CSVd diagnosis. In addition, the intensity of the small RNA hybridization signal obtained by northern blot analysis using a full-length CSVd RNA as a probe indicated synchronous behavior that correlated with the degree of growth suppression. These results suggest that a small RNA from CSVd may lead directly to the suppression of plant growth, with a similar function to siRNAs in chrysanthemum.
