THE PARTIAL MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF PLUM POX VIRUS INFECTING SWEET CHERRY TREES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The presence of PPV in sweet cherry (Prunus avium) has been previously reported within an experimental collection of cherry genotypes in Holovousy, Czech Republic. In this paper, the modified procedure of RNA isolation was successfully applied – one cycle of differential ultracentrifugation was inserted before standard RNA isolation using TRI Reagent. Five PPV virus isolates were detected by RT-PCR by commonly used P1/P2 primers. The strain specific PCR and sequence analysis of NIb-CP-3’NCR region (1375 bp length) of PPV isolate 13/2 CZ identified that isolate as member of PPV-Rec group. Studies are in progress to confirm biological transmission of the isolate.