The Occurrence of the Viruses in Tulip Crops in Poland

The viruses infecting tulips have a big influence on the yield and the quality of bulbs and forced flowers. Commercial bulb production is based on clonal propagation, which leads to the accumulation of viruses. Among 22 viruses occurring in tulips, the most common and the most dangerous are Tulip breaking virus, TBV; Tobacco necrosis virus, TNV; Lily symptomless virus, LSV; Cucumber mosaic virus, CMV and Tobacco rattle virus, TRV. The aim of the research was to check which viruses occur most often on Polish tulip plantations. The research was done on two tulip (Tulipa L.) cultivars ‘Strong Gold’ and ‘Leen van der Mark’ grown at 3 farms situated in different parts of Poland (Warsaw Region, Pomerania and Podlasie) during 2006-2007, and then at 2 farms located in Warsaw Region during 2008-2011. Five of the most important viruses infecting tulips (TBV, TNV, LSV, CMV, and TRV) were detected by double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) in leaves and in bulbs during the period 2006-2010. In the last year of the research two different strains of TRV were detected (TRV-J and TRV-F) and Tulip virus X (TVX) as well. Search for viruses showed that most often TBV virus was detected both in the leaves and the bulbs regardless of the year and plantations. Yellow flowering cultivar ‘Strong Gold’ was infected by viruses more often than in bi-coloured (with red) ‘Leen van der Mark’, because of the difficulties with effective roguing of infected plants due to inconspicuous symptoms of virus infections on yellow coloured flowers. Other viruses were detected sporadically, however increasing occurrence of LSV and TRV was noticed from year to year. In 2011, TVX virus was detected in a few plants of ‘Strong Gold’ and it was the first case of detection of this virus in tulip in Poland.