Purification and Characterization of Peach Mosaic Virus

Virus particles were observed by transmission electron microscopy in preparations extracted from symptomatic leaves of Chenopodium amaranticolor that had been mechanically inoculated with peach mosaic virus. The particles were long, flexuous, filamentous rods with an average length of 888 nm. Purified preparations had an A 260/280 nm ratio of 1.25. RNA extracted from purified virus was approximately 8.1 kilobases, and a capsid protein of approximately 27 kDa was found. Polyclonal rabbit antiserum, produced against purified virus, reacted with samples from peach mosaic and cherry mottle leaf-infected plants when used in Western blot analysis.