Reaction of some Nicotiana Species to the Pepper- and Common Tobacco-Mosaic Viruses

Abstract

The survey conducted during the past 2 years throughout the filler-type tobacco regions of the Island clearly indicated that the two most important and prevalent viruses are the common tobacco- and pepper-mosaic viruses. There are already in existence several mosaic-resistant tobacco varieties, but we know very little about their adaptability to our conditions. We know of no other source of resistance to the pepper mosaic except the species reported in this paper. Although the possibility still exists of finding better sources of resistance in the genus Nicotiana against the two viruses already mentioned, we consider that efforts should be made to incorporate, if possible, the resistance shown by the above-mentioned Nicotiana species into our best commercial tobacco types in order to produce resistant varieties better adapted to our conditions.