Research priority program: Fruit Crop Diseases

The work of the group "Fruit Crop Diseases" is focused on phytoplasma diseases on pome and stone fruit trees. Actually running projects are dealing with apple proliferation disease and the European Stone Fruit Yellows. Additional studies are envisaged on pear decline disease. As control strategies for these diseases short-term as well as long-term solutions are developed. Thus, the work comprises the following objectives: diagnostics using PCR and ELISA, pathogen characterisation, epidemiology, entomological studies on psyllid vectors, tissue culture of phytoplasma infected material, resistance screening, resistance breeding, resistance genetics and the development of molecular markers for resistance. Furthermore, the group is engaged in virus diseases, namely Scharka disease. Here as well, examinations include diagnostics, pathogen characterisation and epidemiology. However, in this field the main focus is based on the breeding of Sharka- resistent plum cultivars using genetic engineering.

Projects

• Apple proliferation
• Development of control strategies against vectors
• Study of the molecular interaction between phytoplasma and insect vector
• Breeding of apple proliferation -resistant rootstocks
• Impact of latent apple viruses on apple proliferation-resistant rootstock genotypes
• European Stone Fruit Yellows
• Sharka

Funding

Publications

Group members

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