Samsun ilinde sert çekirdekli meyve türlerinde Şarka hastalığı etmeninin (Plum pox virus) belirlenmesi

Plum pox virus (PPV) is one of the most destructive and serious viral agent of stone fruits such as plum, peach, nectarine, apricot, almond, sweet and sour cherries. PPV strains have been classified into at least eight sub-groups. PPV has been detected in some orchards in different geographical regions of Turkey including Marmara, Central Anatolia, Aegean and Mediterranean, and the strains of PPV and their distributions have been determined. To date, there is no report on the presence of PPV in the Black Sea Region. PPV-like fruit and leaf symptoms were noticed in four stone fruit orchards in Canik district of Samsun province in July 2013, and a total of 22 samples were taken from nine apricot, six nectarine, four plum and three peach trees. Only one plum and two apricot trees were found to be infected by DAS-ELISA using virus-spesific polyclonal antiserum and RT-PCR method using PPV-specific primers. The partial nucleotide sequences of coat protein (CP) region of plum and apricot isolates were obtained. Nucleotide BLAST analysis showed that plum and apricot isolates had the highest (99%) sequence similarity at nucleotide level with PPV-AbTk isolate (PPV-T strain) found on apricot trees in Ankara province and the PPV Abricotier Turquie isolate. This study revealed that the occurrence and distribution of PPV infection in stone fruit orchards needs to be investigated in the Black Sea Region in detail.