ISHS Acta Horticulturae 732: VIII International Symposium on Canopy, Rootstocks and Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems
TESTING OF PRUNUS ROOTSTOCK CLONES FOR VIRUS TOLERANCE |
| Author: | CH. Lankes |
| Keywords: | Prunus spp., dwarfing rootstock clones, early screening, virus response |
| Abstract:
The increasing intensity of sweet cherry production has boosted the demand for dwarfing rootstock clones. Potential virus infection increases the economic risk to growers, making only virus-tolerant genotypes worth introducing into commercial propagation. A fast and reliable test procedure allowing early screening for virus response was therefore needed. A range of sweet cherry rootstock clones (hybrids of Prunus spp.) has for some time been under study for responses to infection by the pollen-borne Prune dwarf virus (PDV) and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV). Small, rooted layers were potted and forced in the greenhouse. Rootstocks were artificially inoculated by bark grafting using inocula prepared in F 12/1. Observations of the virus response were restricted to the shock phase of the disease. Virus replication in the leaf tissue was checked for by DAS-ELISA. Virus symptom expression (description and evaluation of number of leaves showing symptoms compared to overall number of leaves) and data on growth parameters (leaf and shoot development) were recorded weekly. The test procedure proved to give heavy virus pressure to the rootstock plants. Thus, by small-scale studies in only three months of examination, virus-tolerant genotypes were easily discriminated from sensitive genotypes. | |
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