VIRUS STATUS OF NEW BRED CHERRY CULTIVARS AND ELITES

S. Malchev, A. Zhivondov, S. Milusheva

Abstract: The aim of the study was to find out the virus status of 2 new bred cherry cultivars and 10 cherry elites. Visual inspections for symptoms presence/absence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were carried out. 55 trees were analysed serologically, as 24 ones of them were tested in two consecutive vegetative cycles. In order to find out the influence of Cherry leaf roll virus on the vegetative and reproductive behaviors, the yield and the mean terminal shoot length of infected and uninfected trees of one elite were measured and compared. The data showed that the most distributed virus was Cherry leaf roll virus (CLRV), identified in single or mixed infection in 56.4 % of the tested trees. The infection levels for other phytopathogens tested were as follows: Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) – 16.4%, Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) – 9%, Prune dwarf virus (PDV) - 7.3 % and Prunus necrotic ring spot virus (PNRSV) – 5.4%. Raspberry ring spot virus (RpRSV), Plum pox virus (PPV) and Petunia asteroid mosaic virus (PeAMV) were not detected in the samples analysed. The data about the yield and the mean shoot length showed that in some cases the yield of the diseased trees was two times less in comparison with the healthy ones and the mean shoot growth was vastly decreased.

Keywords: elites; serological detection; sweet cherry; virus status

Date published: 2017-10-11