Approximately 6 months after pollination, five mature cocoa
pods were harvested from the two CSSV-inoculated trees (T2 and
T4) and six pods from the control tree (H). The pods were carefully
opened without disturbing the seeds. Using thin sterile metallic
plates (each used once) the extracted seeds from each pod were
separated longitudinally into two portions. Seeds in the first portion
were separated carefully into their component parts (coat,
cotyledon, and embryo) using different sterile scalpel blades for
each seed. Small portions (about 2mm×2mm in size) of each
component part of the seeds were taken, using different sterile
scalpel blades for each sample, and placed separately in labelled
1.5ml Eppendorf tubes. These were stored at −22 ◦C for DNA
extraction.