EVALUATION OF APRICOT RESISTANCE TO PLUM POX VIRUS IN GREENHOUSE AND FIELD CONDITIONS

Sharka disease, caused by Plum pox virus (PPV), mainly affects Prunus species including apricot, peach and plum. It is an important limiting factor in the affected areas, resulting in severe economic losses. The control of this virosis is performed by removing diseased trees, although the cultivation of resistant genotypes can definitively control it. To characterise new resistant cultivars, it is important to have a rapid and reliable method for the evaluation of resistance. In this work, we compare the evaluation of 29 apricot genotypes and breeding lines for a method developed in controlled greenhouse conditions with that involving grafting onto infected trees in field conditions. The results showed a similar behaviour for the greenhouse and the field conditions in 21 out of the 29 apricot genotypes studied. However, in the other 8 genotypes, the results were different. In these cases, evaluation under field infection conditions produced a higher inoculum pressure, detecting a higher number of genotypes evaluated as susceptible.