ABSTRACT
Incidence of Prunus Necrotic Ringspot Virus (PNRSV), Prune Dwarf Virus (PDV), Tomato Ringspot Virus (ToRSV) and Plum Pox Virus (PPV) in stone fruit nurseries in the Central Zone of Chile

Guido Herrera M.1 y Mónica Madariaga V.1
 

The most efficient form of virus control with stone fruit is the use of clean material in establishing orchards. As such, the plant quality in nurseries is of the utmost importance. Up to now, there has not been any quantitative information on viral incidence affecting stone fruit nurseries in Chile. This knowledge is the basis for the establishment of integrated programs for the production of plants free of known viruses. The main objective of this research was to quantify the incidence of PNRSV, PDV, ToRSV and PPV in stone fruit nurseries of the Central Zone of Chile. Samples were collected in six nurseries of the Metropolitan Region, two of the V Region and three of the VI Region, from mother plants and propagating materials, from the 1997 to 2000 growing seasons. In each site, samples were taken from an individual plant, identified, placed in a plastic bag and stored under controlled temperature (< 20°C) to be taken to INIA’s La Platina Plant Virology Laboratory to be tested by ELISA. In total 13,609 samples were collected and the results showed differences in average viral incidence among the nurseries ranging between 2.0 and 17.7%. The incidence was higher for PDV (17.1%) and ToRSV (15.4%) than for PNRSV (9.7%) and PPV (4.2%). Among the stone fruit species, almonds (29.7%) and apricots (23.3%) had a higher incidence than peaches (10.4%), nectarines (8.8%), cherries (7.1%) and plums (6.9%).

Keywords: stone fruit, virus, PNRSV, PDV, ToRSV, PPV.
1 Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Centro Regional de Investigación La Platina, Casilla 439 Correo 3, Santiago, Chile. E-mail: gherrera@inia.cl