Characterization of the sweet cherry isolate of plum pox potyvirus
Until recently, cherry trees were considered resistant to plum pox potyvirus (PPV – EPPO A2 quarantine pest), but a sour cherry strain of PPV has recently been characterized on plant material from Moldova (EPPO RS 96/149). In southern Italy, a natural infection was also reported on sweet cherry (EPPO RS 94/144). This sweet cherry isolate (PPV-SwC) has been characterized and results of biological, serological and molecular studies showed that PPV-SwC is different from conventional strains of PPV (PPV-D, PPV-M) but closely related to the sour cherry isolate of PPV from Moldova. The authors noted that their results give further support to the hypothesis that cherry isolates of PPV are members of a different strain group for which the name PPV-C (cherry) has been proposed.
Sources
Crescenzi, A.; d’Aquino, L.; Comes, S.; Nuzzaci, M.; Pizazzolla, P.; Boscia, D.; Hadidi, A. (1997) Characterization of the sweet cherry isolate of plum pox potyvirus.
Plant Disease, 81(7), 711-714.