ISHS Acta Horticulturae 386: XVI International Symposium on Fruit Tree Virus diseases
APPLE SCAR SKIN VIROID IS NOT SEED TRANSMITTED OR TRANSMITTED AT A LOW RATE IN ORIENTAL PEAR |
| Authors: | S.S. Hurtt, E.V. Podleckis |
| Abstract:
Apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd) is seedborne in apple and pear, however, nothing is known about its seed transmission in apple or pear. Demonstrated seed transmission of ASSVd could impact the current practices and regulations governing the movement of pome seeds among countries. In this study, we identified fruit-bearing oriental pear trees that were infected with ASSVd, determined the percentage of fruits containing ASSVd in the pulp (seeds were not tested for ASSVd), then germinated seeds from infected trees and tested the seedlings for ASSVd infection. When 6–50 ripe fruits were collected from each of 17 cultivars and tested by chemiluminescent tissue blot hybridization with a cRNA probe for ASSVd, 93 % of the fruits from infected trees were positive. However, none of 100 seedlings grown from the seeds of infected trees showed ASSVd infection in tissue blot hybridization tests. Nor was ASSVd detected in any of the seedlings when they were graft-inoculated to the bioamplification host Virginia Crab (Malus hybrid) and this host was tested for ASSVd by tissue blot hybridization assay. These data may suggest that ASSVd is not seed transmitted at a high rate in Asian pear, even though the pulp of most of the pears on infected trees harbor the viroid. | |
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