Rapid Detection of Plum Pox Virus from Plant Samples using Polymerase Chain Reaction

Introduction Sharka or plum pox disease is considered one of the most devastating diseases of stone fruits in terms of agricultural impact and economic importance (Dunez and Sutic, 1988; Nemeth, 1994). The disease is detrimental to apricot, peach and plum trees as it results in reduced quality and premature dropping of fruits. The causal agent is plum pox virus (PPV), a member of the Potyvirus genus in the Potyviridae family (Lopez-Moya and Garcia, 1999). The PPV epidemic originated in eastern Europe. The disease was first described in 1917 on plums and in 1933 on apricots in Bulgaria (Atanasoff, 1935). Since then the virus has progressively spread to a large part of the European continent as well as the Mediterranean basin. It has also been found in Chile and other South American regions (Roy and Smith, 1994), in India (Thakur et al., 1994) and in the United States. The virus was found in fruit trees in Canada as early as the year 2000, as result of surveying performed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.