Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) plants with chrysanthemum stunt viroid.

Agroinfiltration was tested as a method of inoculation of chrysanthemum plants with chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd). Binary vectors harboring dimeric CSVd sequences in sense and antisense orientations were constructed, and Agrobacterium transfected with these binary vectors was infiltrated into chrysanthemum leaves. Northern blotting and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that local infection was established within 7 days and systemic infection within 20 days. CSVd polarities showed no difference in infectivity. This study showed that agroinfiltration of chrysanthemum plants is an easy, rapid, and cost-effective method for CSVd inoculation.