Middle European Meeting 96 on Plum Pox
The Middle European Meeting 96 on Plum Pox took place in Budapest, in 1996-10-02/04. Many papers and posters were presented during this meeting on various aspects, including detection methods, epidemiology, disease control, transgenic plants, plant breeding etc. The EPPO Secretariat was not able to attend the meeting, but has tried to extract some points of interest.
- In Slovakia, it was observed that walnut trees (Juglans regia) growing near plum orchards infected by plum pox potyvirus (PPV - EPPO A2 quarantine pest) were presenting similar virus symptoms. ELISA tests and inoculation to herbaceous indicators gave positive results. So far, walnut has never been reported as a host for PPV. Further work is continuing to verify this record (Baumgartnerová, 1996).
- In Hungary, serological tests (ELISA) were carried out on the possible presence of plant viruses in natural waters, in 1994 and 1995. Plum pox potyvirus was detected in some samples. In 1996, further tests were done in rivers and lakes, and again PPV was found (after ELISA and biological tests). This rather surprising finding raises many questions on the possible consequences on the virus epidemiology (Pocsai ; Horváth, 1996).
- Characterization studies were carried out in Czech Republic. Results showed that isolates from plum and apricot were found similar to PPV-M strains (Marcus serotype). (Komínek et al., 1996).
Sources
Baumgartnerová, H. (1996) Walnut – a new host of sharka virus ? p 30.
Komínek, P.; Bittóová, M.; Polák, J. (1996) To the differentiation of plum pox virus strains isolated in the Czech Republic. p 43.
Pocsai, E.; Horváth, J. (1996) Detection of plum pox potyvirus in Hungarian rivers and lakes. p 36.
Middle European Meeting 96 on Plum Pox. Budapest, 1996-10-02/04. Abstracts of papers and posters. Plant Health and Soil Conservation Station of the Ministry of Agriculture, Budapest.