ISHS Acta Horticulturae 585: VIII International Rubus and Ribes Symposium
RASPBERRY BUSHY DWARF VIRUS (RBDV) REDUCES YIELD OF 'MARION' BLACKBERRY |
| Authors: | B. Strik, R. Martin |
| Keywords: | Pollen, drupelet, crumbly fruit, Rubus |
| Abstract:
In 1998, we discovered Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) in a planting of 280 ‘Marion’ blackberry plants that was established using tissue-cultured plants in 1993 at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center. At that time, 128 of the 280 plants tested positive for RBDV. In 2000, 130 of the 280 plants tested positive for RBDV. In 1999 and 2000 we evaluated the impact of RBDV on the production of ‘Marion’. RBDV had no effect on cane growth or fruit number, but reduced yield (40 to 50%), fruit weight (23 to 40%), and drupelet number per fruit (36 to 39%) compared to uninfected plants. In 2000, we surveyed 32 commercial fields to test for the presence of RBDV using ELISA. The locations of sampled fields were selected to reflect the acreage distribution of ‘Marion’. Three grower fields tested positive for RBDV. We are continuing to study the rate of spread of this virus in ‘Marion’ at the research plot and in commercial fields. | |
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