DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF PLUM POX VIRUS ON PRUNUS SPECIES IN CRIMEA

Plum pox virus (PPV, genus Potyvirus, family Potiviridae) is the causal agent of the Sharka disease and considered the most detrimental viral pathogen of stone fruits. PPV spread over long distances due to uncontrolled exchanges of infected plant material. The spread of Sharka virus (Plum pox virus) in different regions of the Crimea was obtained by monitoring of its viral pathogen in commercial orchards and collection plots of Prunus persica, P. persica var. nectarine, P. armeniaca, P. cerasifera, P. domestica, P. avium. Different symptoms of the disease on flowers, leaves and fruits caused by Plum pox virus were revealed. Using of complex diagnostic methods (ELISA-test and PCR-analysis) allowed us to identify the viral pathogen mostly in peach, nectarine and myrobalan plum plant material. The results of RT-PCR analysis indicate that all the isolates from peach, nectarine, plum, myrobalan plum cultivars tested belong to the PPV-D strain.