| Abstract: | Plum pox potyvirus (PPV) was introduced into Puglia (IT) a few years ago with infected propagative material coming from nurseries outside the region. Infections were detected in commercial plum and apricot orchards, but not in local nurseries. Extensive surveys were carried out in young apricot, plum and peach orchards to assess the distribution, incidence and spread of PPV infections, with a view to possibly enforcing an eradication programme. Surveys were based on visual inspections of about 300 commercial orchards and nurseries (covering an area of more than 550 ha) in the whole of Puglia, by ELISA and IBM tests, and by biological testing on GF305 of field samples. A total of 23,000 plants were individually checked by ELISA and IEM. The eradication involved 13 plum (35 ha) and 2 apricot (5 ha) orchards showing different levels of PPV infection. Six of the plum plantings showed infection exceeding 30% and were completely uprooted; in the remaining orchards, infection did not exceed 10% and uprooting was limited to infected trees. PPV was never detected in peach. The high incidence of PPV in some plum orchards was due to the heavy initial contamination of propagating material. Secondary virus spread was monitored in apricot orchards and found to occur at a low rate. |
