A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT ON APPLE VIRUSES IN MEDITERRANEAN REGION OF TURKEY

A survey was carried out to check for apple (Malus domestica) viruses in the Mediterranean Region (South Anatolia) of Turkey, between 2002 and 2005. In total, 108 orchards and 10 varietal collections were visited in the districts of Adana, Antalya, K. Maras and Osmaniye, collecting randomly 413 samples of leaves and/or dormant cuttings from apple trees. Sanitary testing was done by ELISA, biological indexing and RT-PCR. All samples were tested by ELISA for the presence of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) and Apple mosaic virus (ApMV). The overall virus infection rate in ELISA was 18.8%. The prevailing viruses were ACLSV (10.6%), ASGV (5.0%) and ApMV (3.1%). Indexing was with the following indicators of Malus pumila: cvs. Virginia crab, Radiant and R 12740 7A. Infection rate was higher in indexing: ACLSV (46.8%), ASGV (60.8%) and Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV) found present in 54.5% of the tested samples. RT-PCR tests confirmed the presence of ASPV, ASGV and ACLSV detected previously by ELISA and biological indexing. This preliminary survey demonstrates a high rate of virus infections for apples in the Mediterranean Region of Eastern Turkey.