ISHS Acta Horticulturae 472: XVII International Symposium Virus and Virus-Like Diseases of Temperate Fruit Crops
IDENTIFICATION OF APPLE DIMPLE FRUIT VIROID IN DIFFERENT COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF APPLE GROWN IN ITALY |
| Authors: | F. Di Serio, L. Giunchedi, D. Alioto, A. Ragozzino, R. Flores |
| Abstract:
A new viroid, termed apple dimple fruit viroid (ADFVd) on the basis of its most conspicuous associated symptom on the cv. "Starking Delicious" (green crater-like depressions on the red skin and necrotic areas in the underlying flesh), has been reported recently in Southern Italy. ADFVd has a size of 306 nucleotides and contains the central conserved region characteristic of the apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd) group. We have now found by Northern blot hybridization using an ADFVd-specific probe that this viroid is also present in cv. "Royal Gala" with fruit symptoms similar to those observed in "Starking Delicious" and in fruits of cv. "Golden Delicious" displaying a rusty skin, although the evidence supporting this latter association is only preliminary. ADFVd has been cloned by reverse transcription and PCR amplification from cv. "Royal Gala" and "Golden Delicious" and found to have a sequence essentially identical to that published previously. These data indicate that ADFVd infects naturally several commercial varieties in Italy as opposed to ASSVd which has not been found so far in this country. We are currently studying the experimental transmission of ADFVd by inoculating purified circular forms of this RNA to different apple varieties in order to provide definitive evidence for both its autonomous replication and pathogenic role. | |
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