Occurrence of Plum pox potyvirus on cherry in Turkey
In Turkey, surveys were carried out from 2000 to 2002 for the presence of Prunus viruses in the Kahramanmaraş district. This district is located at the east of the Mediterranean region, and no survey had been done previously on Prunus viruses. A total of 248 plant samples showing virus-like symptoms were collected in commercial Prunus orchards and mother blocks, and were tested by DAS-ELISA for the presence of Prunus necrotic ringspot ilarvirus (PNRSV), Prune dwarf ilarvirus (PDV) and Plum pox potyvirus (PPV – EPPO A2 list). Results showed that approximately 12.5% of the samples were infected by one or more viruses. Infection levels found were around 18.3% and 2.3% for sweet cherry (Prunus avium) and peach (P. persica), respectively. No virus infection was found in apricot (P. armeniaca), plum (P. domestica) and sour cherries (P. cerasus). The most common virus was PDV (infection rate of 6.4 %) followed by PPV and PNRSV (infection rate of 0.4 % for both). PPV was detected for the first time in Turkey on cherry.
Sources
Tolay Arikan E, Çağlayan K, Gazel MH (2004) Identification of Plum pox virus and some ilarviruses of stone fruits in Kahramanmaraş district of Turkey.
Acta Horticulturae, no. 657, 269-273.