TRANSMISSION OF RAGGED STUNT VIRUS DISEASE OF RICE IN MALAYSIA

HABIBUDDIN HASHIM and ONG CHING ANG

SUMMARY

Rice ragged stunt virus in Malaysia could only be transmitted by the brown planthopper, N. lugens (Homoptera: Delphacidae) in a persistent manner but not by Nephotettix virescens nor Sogatella furcifera. It is also not seed-transmitted. The insect needed a minimum of 30 minutes for acquisition feeding and 10 minutes of inoculation feeding period. The latent period of the virus in the insect body was less than 30 hours, and the virus persisted inside the planthopper until the vector died. The transmission efficiency between the two wing-forms of planthopper was statistically significant at P<0.05. There was no significant difference in the life-pan of brown planthoppers caged on virus-infected and healthy rice plants.

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