By Benzinga on July 13, 2023

A purple cannabis strain was able to resist a widespread plant disease called hop-latent viroid (HLVd). The variety in question, Jamaican Lion, proved resistant to the viroids, turning purple in the process.

A team of scientists from the company Medicinal Genomics accidentally discovered that one of their plants was partially resistant to HLVd. The information was provided by Kevin McKernan, scientific director of the institution, at a conference in Florida.

“We don’t know why [this is happening]. This could be an immune response, but we’re not seeing this [purple coloring]as heavily increased in the control that’s not infected,” said McKernan, according to High Times. Moreover, he explained that they first rubbed the viroid on the cut leaves of the plant to infect them. They then injected the viroid into a plant, and six weeks later, the plant was still uninfected. The test was repeated 57 times. Scientists can detect HLVd in root and leaf tissue, but not in the flower, which tested negative.

– Read the entire article at Benzinga.