Visit to Plant Virus Indexing Center (PVIC), Hoamagama

The second year undergraduates of the BSc (Hons) in Indigenous Medicinal Resources took part in a one-day field practical at the Plant Virus Indexing Center (PVIC), Homagama as part of their course in Plant Pathology. They were given an introduction to disease causing viruses in plants, their identification based on symptoms, and techniques involved in indexing plant viruses using the ELISA method and PCR (RNA extraction). Further the mechanical transmission for inoculating a plant virus was also demonstrated. We are grateful to the Deputy Director (Research) and all staff members of the PVIC, especially to Ms. S. S. Paththinige, the Assistant Director of Agriculture (Research) for this opportunity.