Detection of Hop Stunt Viroid in Sweet and Sour Cherry Trees in Turkey by RT-PCR

During a survey of the phytosanitary status of sweet (Prunus avium L.) and sour (P. cerasus L.) cherry trees for viroid diseases in Turkey, 127 plant samples were collected from 36 orchards including cultivar collections of mother blocks and commercial grown trees. All samples were tested for the presence of Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) using RT-PCR methods. Total nucleic acids were extracted from about 500 mg leaf tissue of each sample according to Astrue et al. (1996). As a result of RTPCR tests, HSVd infection was detected in 21 samples. Of the 21 HSVd infected trees, 16 were sweet cherries (13.8% infection rate) and 5 were sour cherries (45.5% infection rate). The presence of HSVd infections in sweet and sour cherry trees represents a serious threat to the stone fruit industry of the country. Considering reported yield losses, it would be desirable to evaluate the impact of RSVd-infection on stone fruit production. This paper is the first report of HSVd in sweet and sour cherry in Turkey.