Abstract
Naturally infected pumpkin plants were collected in Ishigaki Island, Okinawa on January 1982 and tested for the presence of watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) in various parts of the plants by ELSA. Test samples were prepared by grinding fresh materials in PBS-T (1:19) and filtrating the crude sap through two layers of gause. WMV could be detected easily by ELISA in leaves, petioles, roots, stems, flowers, fruits and seeds from infected plants. Higher virus concentrations were distributed in leaves, anther among staminate flower parts, colyx lobe among pistillate flower parts epicarp among fruit parts and the seed coats of seed parts. For diagnosis of WMV in field samples by ELISA, nearly all parts of the infected plants were useful as test sources.
