ISHS Acta Horticulturae 701: XII International Symposium on Apricot Culture and Decline
VIRUSES AND VIROIDS OF APRICOT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: INCIDENCE AND BIODIVERSITY |
| Authors: | A. Myrta, B. Di Terlizzi, V. Pallas, V. Savino |
| Keywords: | Prunus armeniaca, sanitary status, PPV, PNRSV, HSVd |
| Abstract:
About half of the world apricot growing is concentrated in the Mediterranean basin and the production is broadly based on a high number of local varieties. The sanitary status of the apricot industry in the region is discussed based mainly in the results of surveys carried out during the 1990s in the main apricot-growing areas of Albania, Italy (Apulia region), Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Palestine, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey (East-Anatolia). The virus incidence in all the surveyed areas as a total was 11.9%. However, the infection incidence was wide, from less than 1% (Turkey) to about 74 % (Malta), but in the majority of countries it was in the range 3-12%. In the course of the above surveys the viruses identified serologically and/or recovered by sap-transmission to herbaceous hosts were: Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV), Prune dwarf virus (PDV), Apple mosaic virus (ApMV) and Plum pox virus (PPV). ACLSV and PNRSV were the prevailing viruses being present in 6.3 % and 5.6% of the tested trees, respectively. The presence of Hop stunt viroid (HSVd), determined by molecular hybridisation and PCR was surprisingly high in several countries. A brief description of the most frequent diseases associated with the above cited pathogens in the Mediterranean, is also given. Finally, recent data on the biodiversity of these pathogens in the Mediterranean and their implications for the apricot industry are discussed. | |
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