Attempts to Acclimate Poliomyelitis Virus to Tomato Plants. ∗

Abstract

It is now generally believed that the gastrointestinal tract of the human from the stomadeum to the hind gut is probably the main portal of entry of poliomyelitis virus. 1 , 2 , 3

Because the gastrointestinal tract has been implicated, it has been thought by us that the virus might be found on and ingested with food. The common edible plants present no ostensible signs of infection, but it is possible that they may become infected without external or internal evidence of disease. We were not able, however, to demonstrate the presence of poliomyelitis virus in or on fruits, etc., 4 although our failure to find it does not mean that it was absent. It was decided to see if poliomyelitis virus could be acclimated to some common plant.

The tomato was chosen for this work. Forty-eight tomato plants were planted in the university greenhouse and allowed to grow to an age where 4 separate shoots had appeared along the main stalk. They were then divided into sets of 6 and tested with one of the following materials: (a) “enteric” toxin, the filtrate obtained from coliform organisms growing in beef broth; 5 (b) poliomyelitis virus; (c) virus in “enteric” toxin and (d) sterile physiological saline. Two experiments were made with each test suspension, in the first of which a drop of material was placed on the fourth leaf from the tip of 6 plants and rubbed in with a smooth spatula; a second set of 6 plants were each injected with a drop of the same test substance just below the third internode. None of the 48 plants showed any reaction. Growth was neither disturbed nor stunted by the rubbing nor by the injections of any of the test suspensions.