Annals of Applied Biology ISSN 0003-4746 RESEARCH ARTICLE Effect of banana bunchy top virus infection on morphology and growth characteristics of banana C.R.R. Hooks1, M.G. Wright1, D.S. Kabasawa1, R. Manandhar1 & R.P.P. Almeida2 1 Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA 2 Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA Keywords Abstract Nanoviridae; Pentalonia nigronervosa; vector. Field experiments were conducted in Oahu, Hawaii, to investigate the effects of Correspondence banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) infection on growth and morphology of C.R.R. Hooks, Department of Plant and banana (Musa acuminata). The time interval between aphid inoculation of Environmental Protection Sciences, University BBTV and the initial appearance of disease symptoms (i.e. incubation period) of Hawaii at Manoa, 3050 Maile Way, Gilmore was also determined. Plants infected with BBTV showed a significant reduc- Hall 310, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. tion in petiole size (i.e. length and distance), plant canopy and height, leaf Email:
[email protected] area, pseudostem diameter and chlorophyll content compared with control Received: 8 July 2007; revised version plants. Growth differences between virus-infected and control plants were accepted: 14 January 2008. not observed until 40–50 days after the plants were inoculated with virulif- erous aphids. Other growth parameters such as petiole width and leaf pro- doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.2008.00233.x duction were not statistically different between infected and control plants. The incubation period of banana bunchy top disease or appearance of symp- toms ranged from 25 to 85 days after aphid inoculation.