Potato spindle tuber viroid: Stability on common surfaces and inactivation with disinfectants

The length of time Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) remained infective in extracted tomato leaf sap on common surfaces and the effectiveness of disinfectants against it were investigated. When sap from PSTVd-infected tomato leaves was applied to eight common surfaces (cotton, wood, rubber tire, leather, metal, plastic, human skin, and string) and left for various periods of time (5 min to 24 h) before rehydrating the surface and rubbing onto healthy tomato plants, PSTVd remained infective for 24 h on all surfaces except human skin. It survived best on leather, plastic, and string. It survived less well after 6 h on wood, cotton, and rubber and after 60 min on metal. On human skin, PSTVd remained infective for only 30 min. In general, rubbing surfaces contaminated with dried infective sap directly onto leaves caused less infection than when the sap was rehydrated with distilled water but overall results were similar. The effectiveness of five disinfectant agents at inactivating PSTVd in sap extracts was...