The objective of this work was to study the effectiveness of a mild strain of Papaya ring spot virus - type Watermelon (PRSV-W) and a mild strain of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) in plants of zucchini squash, cv. Caserta, for seed production. Five treatments were tested, with six replications, in randomized block design. The treatments were: 1) premunization with PRSV-W; 2) premunization with ZYMV; 3) double premunization (PRSV-W and ZYMV); 4) control, plants submitted to natural infection; 5) plants without virus infection. Plants without virus produced more fruits, while premunization with PRSV-W was superior to control submitted to natural infection. In treatment with double premunization lighter fruits were obtained, compared to plants without virus, and there were no differences among other treatments. For seed production per plant, all premunization treatments and control with natural infection did not differ from each other, but they produced less than plants without virus. For seed quality (germination and vigor) there were no differences among all treatments.
Cucurbita pepo; PRSV-W; ZYMV; virus; germination; vigor
