Transmission of European Stone Fruit Yellows Phytoplasma ('Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum') during the propagation process.

Th e study focused on the incidence of ’Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ transmission during the propagation process. Two common commercial propagation procedures, whip grafting in winter and budding in summer, were applied. Infected scions were grafted on certifi ed apricot seedling rootstocks. Transmission of the pathogen was observed with both procedures. Whip grafting in winter, however, resulted in signifi cantly lower infection rates of the progeny (0 to 15 %) than budding in summer (46 to 88 %).