First Report of the Plum Pox Virus Recombinant Strain on Peach in Bulgaria

Plum pox virus (PPV) causes sharka, the most damaging viral disease of stone fruit species. Seven distinct PPV strains are known; PPV-M, PPV-D, and PPV-Rec are the most common (3). PPV-Rec is a unique recombinant (3) between PPV-M and PPV-D and has been reported from plum, apricot, Japanese plum, myrobalan, and blackthorn in eastern and central Europe, but has never been found in peach as a single natural infection (2). A survey was conducted during spring 2009 in eight peach orchards located in the southwest, southeast, and south central regions of Bulgaria to assess the incidence of PPV infection. A total of 98 leaf samples from individual trees showing PPV-like symptoms were collected and analyzed by triple-antibody sandwich (TAS)-ELISA with the universal monoclonal antibody (MAb) 5B (Agritest, Valenzano, Italy). Sixty one samples reacted positive for PPV (optical density 0.161 to 1.267) and these samples were further analyzed with PPV-M (AL) and PPV-D (4DG5) specific MAbs (1). All 61 samples reacted p...