ISHS Acta Horticulturae 193: XIII International Symposium on Fruit Tree Virus Diseases
SEROLOGICAL AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES FOR DETECTING TOMATO RINGSPOT VIRUS IN PEACH TREES |
| Authors: | M.W. Bitterlin, D. Gonsalves |
| Abstract:
Although the causal relationship of tomato ringspot virus (TmRSV) and Prunus stem pitting (PSP) has been established, detecting TmRSV in peach trees has remained a problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of TmRSV and to develop an efficient technique for detecting TmRSV in peach trees. Leaves and bark from different parts of infected and declining peach trees with PSP symptoms in West Virginia orchards were assayed for TmRSV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). TmRSV and symptoms of PSP were irregularly distributed within trees, but mostly concentrated at and below the soil line. ELISA detected TmRSV in all the samples with PSP symptoms if the tissue was still alive, but also in symptomless bark samples. In another study, TmRSV was also found to be erratically distributed in symptomless Halford (rootstock) trees growing in a New York nursery. The irregular distribution of TmRSV in peach has to be considered in field surveys for TmRSV and in the possible control of PSP by cross protection. Furthermore, not all antisera to TmRSV could detect all the tested TmRSV isolates by direct ELISA. Serological differences among TmRSV isolates which may complicate the diagnosis of virus infections in peach are also discussed. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
