Detection by Tissue Printing of Stone Fruit Viroids, From Europe, the Mediterranean and North and South America

Abstract

The two viroids known to affect stone fruit trees are Peach latent mosaic viroid (PLMVd) and Hop stunt viroid (HSVd). Viroids can be detected by biological, biochemical or molecular methods. The two first approaches are time consuming and expensive, with the limiting step for molecular techniques being the sample preparation process. In the present study, direct tissue-printing on membranes, a procedure that avoids sample extraction, has been applied on a large scale for an initial screening of PLMVd and HSVd in different regions from Europe (Albania and the Czech Republic), the Mediterranean basin (Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt and Turkey), and North- (Canada) and South-America (Chile). PLMVd was detected in peach trees from all countries surveyed except Egypt, with incidence ranging from 52% (Albania) to 5.4% (Algeria). HSVd was detected in peaches, apricots and plums, in Albania, Egypt and Turkey. The incidence of HSVd in the West part of Turkey both in apricot (66%) and peach (57%) was particularly high.