TISSUE CULTURE AS A TOOL IN STUDIES OF HOST-VIRUS INTERACTIONS

Tobacco mosaic virus concentration in infected tobacco callus is less than 5 per cent of that in infected tobacco leaves (Kassanis, 1967). Low efficiency of infection and low infectivity were encountered in initial attempts to infect tissue culture.

TMV infection reduces the viability of tomato callus cells from a susceptible but not a resistant cultivar (Murakishi, 1965). Similarly, replication of virus was highest in susceptible and lowest in resistant tobacco callus (Beachy and Murakishi, 1970).

Our primary objective was to develop tissue culture as a tool to study virus replication. Thus, factors which affected the efficiency of infection and virus concentration were of paramount importance to use.