Apple Proliferation
http://www.apfeltriebsucht.infoApple proliferation (AP) has been firstly described in Italy in 1950. Today the disease is distributed in all countries in Middle and Southern Europe. In autumn 2000, a serious epidemics of AP re-appeared in the apple orchards of Western and Southwestern Germany. Typical symptoms are witches’ brooms (Fig. 1) and enlarged stipules. The economic loss is due to undersized fruits of infected trees which cannot be commercialized.
Fig. 1 Witches’ brooms on apple
Apple proliferation is caused by phytoplasmas, cell- wall -less bacteria belonging to the class Mollicutes class which can only survive in the phloem of infected plants. The disease is associated with a special type of phytoplasma, the Candidatus Phytoplasma mali (=Apple Proliferation (AP) phytoplasma. AP phytoplasmas can be spread by grafting, by latently infected nursery material or by natural transmission via phloem-feeding insect vectors.
- Development of control strategies against insect vectors
- Breeding of apple proliferation-resistant rootstocks
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Grapevine Biotechnology
Fruit Crop Diseases
