Fruit tree MLO's in Italy
Apricot chlorotic leafroll MLO (EPPO A2 quarantine pest) is reported to be continuously spreading in Italy, and the same is true to a lesser extent of grapevine flavescence dor‚e MLO (EPPO A2 quarantine pest). The agent of plum leptonecrosis (up till now considered by EPPO to be synonymous with apricot chlorotic leafroll MLO) has now been shown to be serologically distinct, and indeed to cover more than one distinct MLO (information from Horticulture Research International, GB). Apple proliferation MLO (EPPO A2 quarantine pest) is only important in a few areas of Friule and Alto Adige; in Veneto and Emilia Romagna, it is rare and unimportant. The situation of pear decline MLO (EPPO A2 quarantine pest) is difficult to evaluate because of confusion with various graft incompatibilities. Although symptoms suggest MLO infection, no MLO diseases have been properly characterized on these hosts in Italy.
Sources
Informatore Fitopatologico (1993), 43 (5), 39-40