Graft-transmissible agent causes bark necrosis and stem pitting in plum trees
Authors
Diana B. MariniAdib Rowhani
Jerry K. Uyemoto
Authors Affiliations
D.B. Marini is former Graduate Student (now working in Argentina); A. Rowhani is Specialist, Department of Plant Pathology, UC Davis;; J.K. Uyemoto is Research Plant Pathologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture stationed at UC Davis. Marini thanks Yun-Ping Zhang for assistance with molecular techniques and procedures, Dave Wilson Nursery for plum trees and Sierra Gold Nursery for other test plants.Publication Information
Hilgardia 56(3):108-111. DOI:10.3733/ca.v056n03p108. May 2002.
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Abstract
In two Central Valley plum orchards, nearly all the trees started exhibiting copious amounts of dark gumballs on scaffold branches and main trunks. Exposed bark showed extensive tissue necrosis and necrotic stem-pitting on the surface of the woody cylinders. Eventually, both orchards had to be removed and replanted. The symptoms were highly suggestive of a viral or viruslike disease agent. We began studies to characterize the pathogen associated with the failure of these orchards and were successful in associating the disease with a new virus that proved to have an extensive host range in many cultivated Prunus. Characterization of this virus is under way.
References
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