Transmission of the coconut cadang‐cadang viroid through seednuts and pollen was demonstrated experimentally. F1 progenies of healthy and infected parents pollinated with diseased pollen contained the viroid and exhibited disease symptoms 6 years after germination. The viroid was also detected in seedlings, embryos and plantlets grown in vitro originating from naturally infected palms. This study provides the first evidence for a natural mode of spread of cadang‐cadang. However, epidemiological observations suggest that this is not the only or necessarily the most common route of field transmission.

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