PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES IN PEPPER PLANTS INFECTED WITH TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRUS

Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is very sensitive to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) which resulted in reduction of fruit quality and yield and great economic loss, especially in glasshouse production. Many pathophysiological changes are induced in infected plants such as enzymes activity changes in respiration processes (peroxidase). In this research work peroxidase activity (PA) were tested on healthy and infected hot pepper plants cv. niska sipka by colorimetric method (Gregory, 1966). TMV was determined by phytopathological methods: biotest method, serological methods (slide precipitation and gel diffusion) and electronic microscopy method. Phytopathological investigations showed that hot pepper plants cv. niska sipka were infected by particular strain of TMV which Tosic and Videnov (1981) named hot pepper necrotic strain of TMV - isolate niska sipka (TMV-HPNS). This strain of TMV caused systemic infection and higher peroxidase activity in infected than in healthy hot pepper plants. Maximum of PA was registered at the beginning of green pods phase, before necrotic processes even started.