Effect of protectants in L-drying on the conformation and infectivity of rice dwarf phytoreovirus.

Purified rice dwarf phytoreovirus preparations, after rehydration following drying without freezing (L-drying) and sucrose density gradient centrifugation, sedimented to the same position as untreated controls. Upon storage at 65 degrees C, virion conformation in L-dried preparations supplemented with 1% sucrose was maintained better than without additives. Moreover, during storage for 6 years at -70 degrees C, infectivity of L-dried preparations from crude extracts of infected rice plants containing 5% sucrose was higher than controls based on the number of count of infected foci on cell monolayers and transmission to rice seedlings by leafhopper of the vector Nephotettix cincticeps, which had been injected with such extracts.