Time 14:01, 14 Feb 1999
From oldtimer1
Vic in the past we discussed the reason for the colour break and distorted leaves. Your
suggestion was that it was still the effect of colchicine treatment. I thought it might be a
natural sport with a colour break as with variegated ivy or fuchsias. I have always
believed that viruses cant be transmitted via seed the same as they aren't present in the
meristem tip. What I have found is thatthe leaf distortion and leaf mottling can be
transmitted via sap on the snips to another variety to both the mum and some of the
cuttings. To me this seems like a virus I fortunately have a back up mum, also it doesn't
seem to effect the vigour of the recipient up to now, but who knows long term. I asked a
disease expert from the royal horticultural society and apart from fudging a bit they didn't
seem to know if transmission was possible through seed. I thought that with your
background you may have seen a reference somewhere. I now think it is a distinct
possibility, it could be like the tulip virus. Thought you might be interested anyhow.
All the best Ot1.
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Time 16:57, 14 Feb 1999
From occam
Hi oldtimer1, sorry to break in, but here's an excerpt from "Plant Propagation for Nursery
Growers" by Bruce Macdonald, pg. 6,: "...In many species, there is far less risk of virus
transmission from one generation to the next with seed propagation. Some exceptions
occur in the Rosaceae where Prunus avium (Mazzard) is known to transmit up to six
viruses by seed, e.g., Plum Ring Spot and Cherry Mosaic Viruses."
This suggests that your idea is at least possible. Hope this helps.