Pome fruit viruses in Bosnia and Herzegovina

During autumn 2005 and summer 2006, field surveys were carried out to assess the sanitary status of pome fruit trees in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inspections were done in the main pome fruit growing areas including 10 orchards, 2 nurseries and one varietal collection. A total of 65 apple and 50 pear cultivars were tested by biological indexing for the presence of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) and Apple mosaic virus (ApMV). The average infection level was 81%. Both species showed a similar infection rate (83% for apple and 78% for pear). The most frequent viruses of apple were ACLSV (72%) and ASPV (69%), and of pear ASGV (69%) and ACLSV (64%). The same samples were also tested by ELISA, with a lower virus detection rate compared to the biological indexing. Multiplex RT-PCR results of 20 randomly selected apple cultivars were in line with biological indexing. Results of our surveys report for the first time the presence of ACLSV, ASPV, ASGV and ApMV on pome fruits in Bosnia and Herzegovina.