PEACH LATENT MOSAIC VIROID IN ITALY

In recent years symptoms resembling those described for peach latent mosaic (PLM) disease have been observed in many orchards of several peach, nectarine, and clingstone cultivars located in a well-defined area of Emilia-Romagna.
Symptoms consisted of small circular discolorations of the skin.
A few trees also had chlorotic areas on the leaves.

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of nucleic acid extracts showed the presence of a viroid-like RNA in all trees with symptomatic fruit, and in one tree with symptomless fruit.
Under denaturing conditions, the electrophoretic mobility of this viroid-like RNA was identical to that of the viroid-like RNA associated with the severe strain of the PLM agent and its band was located between that of the citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) and the hop stunt viroid (HSVd). In addition to this RNA, another low molecular weight RNA was detected in one Suncrest tree with symptomatic fruit.
The electrotrans-blot hybridization test revealed no sequence homologies with specific CEVd or HSVd nucleic acid probes.

XV International Symposium on Fruit Tree Diseases

G. Albanese, L. Giunchedi, R. La Rosa, C. Poggi Pollini

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1992.309.48