Virus and virus-like diseases of stone fruits, with particular reference to the Mediterranean region Options Méditerranéennes SERIE B : Etudes et recherches Series, Vol. 45

The sanitary status of the Mediterranean stone fruit industry is discussed, based on extended surveys carried out during the 1990s, i.e. in Albania, Italy (Apulia), Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey (East-Anatolia). Sweet cherry was the most virus-infected crop (54 percent of the trees were infected by at least one virus) whereas apricot was the least infected (10 percent). Peach, plum and almond had an infection rate of 33 percent, 28 percent and 27percent respectively. Plum pox virus (PPV), Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV), Prune dwarf virus (PDV), Apple mosaic virus (ApMV) and Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) were the important stone fruit viruses detected.