VIRUS AND VIRUS-LIKE DISEASES OF ALMOND IN SOUTH EAST ITALY

An account is given of the results of extensive investigations carried out in Apulia (south east Italy) for assessing the sanitary conditions of almond and identifying the prevailing virus and virus-like diseases.
The studies were based on: (i) field surveys for ascertaining the distribution and incidence of diseases; (ii) bioassays (mechanical transmission to herbaceous hosts and graft transmission to woody indicators) for isolation of viruses and,(iii) laboratory tests (ELISA, IEM) for their identification.
Mosaic was the most frequent disease and the one investigated in more detail.
The viruses associated with it were identified and their etiological role established.
Virus-like diseases found in the course of the survey were enations, stem pitting, graft union necrosis, and chlorotic leaf spot.
Non infectious bud failure was also observed.

Among stone fruit species, almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch.) seems to be affected by a relatively low number of virus and virus-like diseases.
Less than 10 such disorders are reported in the literature, few if compared to the 37 recorded from peach and the 39 from sweet cherry (Nemeth, 1986). Many of these diseases, which are presumed to be of viral origin because of their graft-transmissibility, in reality are of uncertain etiology, their agents being still unknown.

In this paper, the results of extensive and repeated field surveys carried out in Apulla (south east Italy) are reported,

I International Congress on Almond

V. Savino, G.P. Martelli, M. Digiaro, B. Di Terlizzi

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.373.43