Diagnosis of Plant Viruses and Allied Pathogens

Contents: Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. 2. Symptoms caused by viruses and virus-like pathogens. 3. Transmission. 4. Host range and properties of the virus in crude extract in vitro. 5. Virus isolation and purification. 6. Electron microscopy. 7. Serology. 8. Immunosorbent Electron Microscopy (ISEM). 9. Nucleic acid based diagnosis. 10. Viroids and their molecular diagnosis. 11. Cloning and sequencing. 12. Microarrays -- an introduction. 13. Virus eradication from plants. 14. Taxonomy of viruses - an introduction. Selected reading. Selected references. Internet search. Appendices. Standard pH solutions. Approximate pKa values of substances useful for buffer systems. Conversion tables. Number of trees per acre at given spacings. Number of trees per hectare at given spacings. Index.

From the Preface: "The first chapter of the book provides brief introduction to virus and virus-like pathogens infecting plant species. In the second chapter, symptoms caused by these pathogens on their host(s) have been covered in detail. In third chapter, protocols for transmission of viruses by various methods including by insect and mite vectors have been described. Chapter four carries information and protocols to study physical properties of the virus in crude extract. Next chapter is on isolation and purification of plant viruses by various methods which is followed by electron microscopy to view the virus particles and phytoplasmas by various techniques. In chapter seven, techniques to produce virus specific antibodies in rabbit (polyclonal antibodies), mice (monoclonal antibodies) have been described. Production of antibodies by phage display technique has also been described in this chapter. After describing the production of antibodies, various serological techniques commonly used for detection of plant viruses and phytoplasmas have been discussed in detail."