Purification and biophysical properties of tomato spotted wilt virus

Abstract

The virus etiology of tobacco wilt, a disease of tobacco known in South Africa since 1905, was determined. by Moore (1933). After establishing the relationship between this virus and its thrips vector, she realized that this virus was identical to or a strain of the Australian tomato spotted wilt virus described by Samuel, Ba1d. & Pittman, 1930. Although the virus nature of this disease had already been established in 1950, the first attempt to obtain purified virus preparations was only reported twenty years later (Black, Brakke & Vatter 1952) a detailed description of the purification method appeared in a second paper when the authors also reported some biophysical properties of the virus (Black et al.1961).