PLANT SPECIES OUTSIDE THE GENUS MALUS AS INDICATORS FOR LATENT VIRUSES OF APPLE

Several rosaceous plants, not belonging to the genus Malus, were budded with apple sources that contained chat fruit and with sources containing ring russeting, star crack and rough skin viruses in order to find better indicators for these diseases.
Because all source trees were contaminated with several latent viruses single isolates of stem grooving virus (SGV) and chlorotic leaf spot virus (CLSV) were included in the experiments, as well as some isolates which caused only Spy 227 decline and Virginia Crab stem pitting.

So far no indicators have been found for chat fruit or any of the viruses that cause fruit symptoms only.
Several of the involved species, however, are host plants for the apple latent viruses, and some are useful indicators.

P. veitchii is an excellent indicator for the virus or viruses that cause Spy 227 decline and Virginia Crab stem pitting.

Cotoneaster bullata seedlings are good indicators for SGV whereas Aronia melanocarpa seedlings appear to be good indicators for CLSV.

IX International Symposium on Fruit Tree Virus Diseases

F.A. van der Meer

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1975.44.34