CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CHESTNUT MOSAIC

A virus disease, the chestnut mosaic (ChMV), has been observed recently in France, particularly on the hybrids Castanea sativa x C. crenata – Maraval Ca74 and Marigoule Ca15. On this sensitive cultivars it has provoked on 50% of plants yellow mottles or veins, with arcure or epinasty and apical necrosis, and on the other plants only a bushy habit with chlorotic stocky leaves.
These last ones, infected by enough stable latent strains, have been protected against marking strains.
The autochthonous C. sativa, ordinarly tolerant and even very tolerant, are probably infected in big majority by this virus which seems epidemic.

The unpurified and unidentified infectious agent has been detected by glasshouse indexing on seedlings or cuttings of sensitive hybrids Ca15 and Ca74. Actually 20% or more of the marketed plants of these 2 cultivars are infected by latent strains, but the selection and vitropropagation by INRA of virus free clones will permit soon to improve the reliability of tests and to study the frequency and the incidence of this chestnut mosaic.

XV International Symposium on Fruit Tree Diseases

J.C. Desvignes

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1992.309.51