Detection of Blueberry red ringspot virus in highbush blueberry cv. ‘Coville’ in Slovenia

Blueberry red ringspot virus (BRRSV) infects blueberries and is present in USA. It causes red ringspots or red blotches on one year old stems or older. In mid- to late summer reddish-brown spots develop on older leaves. In some blueberry cultivars also fruit symptoms, circular areas of light colour and/or fruit deformations, can be seen. In spring 2008 BRRSV was detected in symptomatic bark from blueberry cv. ‘Coville’ showing typical BRRSV symptoms. The obtained PCR product was sequenced and the identity of the virus confirmed. To our knowledge this was the first finding of BRRSV in Slovenia.