- Melon (Cucumis melo) plants ‘Hy Mark’ were used for propagation of Squash mosaic virus (SqMV), family Comoviridae, genus Comovirus in green house conditions. The virus was purified from young leaves of infected melon plants and the purified virus preparation, in the concentration of 10.00 mg/ml, in saline solution 0.15 M, was used for rabbit oral immunization. Ten doses of 1.0 ml each were given in two set of inoculation in two days interval. Another rabbit was immunized by a similar way using extracts obtained from infected melon plants. The extracts were obtained in saline solution 0.15 M and clarified by a low speed centrifugation at 10,000 g. The obtained antisera were evaluated by double diffusion tests in a gar medium. The antiserum obtained from the rabbit immunized with the purified virus preparation reacted with extracts from infected plants in a title of 1024 and did not present any reaction with extracts from healthy plants. The antiserum obtained from the rabbit immunized with extracts from infected plants presented a title of 4 with the extract from infected plant, but did not show reaction with the extracts from healthy plants. The results confirmed the efficiency of oral immunization for production of antiserum specific to plant viruses useful for virus diagnose.
