ISHS Acta Horticulturae 193: XIII International Symposium on Fruit Tree Virus Diseases
OCCURRENCE OF SHARKA IN PORTUGAL |
| Authors: | D. Louro, L&u.;c. Corvo |
| Abstract:
In the summer of 1984, in a commercial orchard in the southern province of the country (Algarve) a fruit disorder ascribed to be sharka disease was observed on Prunus armeniaca L. cv. Canino imported two years before. The fruits were reduced in size, deformed and unevenly ripened. Fruit stones showed yellow rings surrounding dark brown spots. Such rings were also impressed on adjacent pulp tissues. Sharka or plum pox virus (PPV) was detected in extracts of diseased fruits by immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM). The identity of the virus was confirmed by coating the trapped virus particles with antibodies to PPV. Double-antibody coating using goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulins was performed in order to facilitate the screening work. The PPV was isolated by double chip-budding on P. persica L. GF 305 seedlings. This is the first record of the sharka disease in Portugal. The orchard where the PPV was detected has been kept under observation and all the apricot trees cv. Canino from the same source were destroyed. In order to evaluate the incidence of PPV in the country, survey work is being carried out using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). | |
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