Isolation and serological comparison of virus-coded proteins of three potyviruses infecting cucurbitaceous plants

Cylindrical inclusion proteins (CIPs), amorphous inclusion proteins (AIPs), and virus particles were partially purified from Cucurbita maxima leaves infected with zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), watermelon mosaic virus 2 (WMV2), and the watermelon mosaic virus 1 strain of papaya ringspot virus (PRSV-W). Antisera to these individual antigens, except AIPs of ZYMV and WMV2, were prepared and used to determine with electroblot-ELISA the serological differentiation indices (SDIs) between homologous and heterologous antigens. The average SDIs between ZYMV and WMV2 CIPs, between ZYMV and PRSV-W CIPs, and between WMV2 and PRSV-W CIPs were 1.5, 3.5, and 2.5, respectively. The SDIs between ZYMV and PRSV-W AIPs and between WMV2 and PRSV-W AIPs were 5 and 3, respectively. The average SDIs between ZYMV and WMV2 capsid proteins (CPs), between ZYMV and PRSV-W CPs, and between WMV2 and PRSV-W CPs were 3, 7, and 8, respectively. These data suggest that the serological relationship between ZYMV and WMV2 is much closer than that between PRSV-W and ZYMV or between PRSV-W and WMV2 and that antigenic determinants of CIP and AIP were conserved more than those of CP among the three potyviruses.