Raspberry ring spot virus

Viral diseases due to high harmfulness and widespread prevalence are a factor that reduces yields. One of these is the raspberry ringspot virus (RprRSV). The virus infects fruit, berry, vegetable crops, herbaceous flowers and ornamental shrubs. Among them are mostly raspberries, blackberries, black and red currants, gooseberries, garden strawberries, cherries, peaches, plums, apricots, pumpkins, artichokes, roses, narcissus, etc.

Raspberry ring spot virus is present in both Europe and Asia. In particular, detections are known on the territory of several regions of the Russian Federation.

This virus affects almost all organs of the plant, mainly manifests itself on the leaves. They develop light green and light yellow rings or spots with a less intensely colored center, from which the name of the virus is derived. In highly susceptible raspberry varieties, some or all of the shoots may die off in winter. Surviving plants form stunted and brittle shoots with deformed rolled leaves. Affected plants become dwarfed, their yield is sharply reduced. In the early stage of the disease, leaf spotting and deformations somewhat resemble powdery mildew, but without powdery coating on the underside of the leaves.

The main natural carriers of raspberry ringspot virus are soil nematodes Longidorus elongatus, Longidorus macrosoma. According to some reports, transmission by the nematode Paralongidorus maximus is possible, but with relatively low efficiency. They reach a length of 11 mm, so soils in aqueous extracts can be seen with the naked eye. The main route of spread of the virus is through infected planting material. It is also carried by seeds and pollen in a number of plants.

The raspberry ringspot virus is quite labile, is not transmitted by contact, does not persist in water and plant residues in the soil, which greatly facilitates control measures. It is necessary to use certified healthy planting material and carry out preventive work to combat nematode vectors.

Diagnosis is fraught with certain difficulties, since the virus has several biologically distinct strains. Only on one raspberry 3 strains are known, which differ in carrier nematodes and, of course, genetically. Effective detection of the virus is carried out in the study by molecular methods - ELISA and PCR.

The material was prepared by specialists of the Volgograd branch of the Rostov Reference Center of Rosselkhoznadzor.