Tomato bushy stunt virus from Prunus avium. II. Serological typing and the characterization of antibody types and activities

Abstract

Serological comparisons between the type strain of tomato bushy stunt virus and a strain from sweet cherry demonstrated that the degree of relationship was highly dependent upon the time of bleeding during the primary response. Cross-reactivity decreased after injection until just before the maximum titer was reached, and then gradually increased until the maximum value was attained. The increase in cross-reactivity was due, mainly, to a decline in synthesis and (or) release of specific antibodies. Sera fractionation revealed specific and cross-reactive antibodies among both light and heavy globulins. The cross-reactivity of light antibodies increased from the time of injection, but it remained nearly constant for heavy antibodies. Immunoelectrophoresis associated the light and heavy antibodies with IgG and IgM globulins, respectively.