Abstract:

The prevalence of apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) was investigated in all the main stone fruit growing areas of Turkey except for East Anatolia. Three hundred and sixty-nine plant samples showing virus related symptoms were collected from sweet and sour cherry, peach, nectarine, apricot and plum trees. All samples were tested using DAS-ELISA and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Thirteen samples were detected as infected with ACLSV using ELISA while RT-PCR revealed 51 positive samples. The highest ACLSV incidence was in Bursa (64%), followed by Yalova (20.51%), Burdur (18.18%), Amasya (13.43%), Afyon (12.07%), Isparta (6.25%), Çanakkale (4.76%) and İzmir (2.72%). Among the collected stone fruit species, nectarine was the most infected species, followed by apricot, peach, sour cherry, plum and sweet cherry. Some ACLSV isolates were used for the adoption of an immuno capture (IC) RT-PCR system. ACLSV infected plant sap diluted up to 1:10 was detected by IC-RT-PCR. The successful application of RT-PCR and IC-RT-PCR for the accurate and sensitive detection of ACLSV was reported in stone fruit trees in Turkey.

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