Some Features of Samples of the Hereditary Rhabdovirus Sigma Collected in Natural Populations of Drosophila melanogaster

Laboratoire de Génétique, Université de Clermont Ferrand II, B.P.45, 63170 Aubière, France Sigma virus isolates have been extracted from samples of Drosophila melanogaster collected in the wild and some of the virus characteristics measured. Most of the virus isolates shared rather similar features after injection and had ‘medium’ values for incubation time, transovarial transmission pattern, and sensitivity to genes for resistance to the virus. One single serotype was found, similar to that of the laboratory strains already tested. Keywords: D. melanogaster , rhabdovirus sigma, natural populations Received 28 November 1980; accepted 7 May 1981.