Risk assessment of contamination of cherry trees by plum pox virus in France
Résumé
A limited survey was carried out on cherry trees in small areas where Plum pox virus (PPV) had reached a high incidence in other stone fruit orchards. Not any infected cherry tree was detected. The risk of contamination of the cherry Prunus group by PPV-D or PPV-M isolates was assessed by mechanical inoculation on young Prunus mahaleb. While inoculated leaves were infected, not any systemic infection occured. On the contrary, the cherry-adapted isolate PPV-SoC could infect cherry trees and other Prunus species (P. domestica, P. persica), either when inoculated mechanically or by aphids. PPV-Soc seems however difficult to maintain a long time on these other Prunus.