Biological and Molecular Detection of Citrus Psorosis Virus in Citrus in the Eastern Mediterrenean Region of Turkey

Fifty bud sticks exhibiting vein flecking, vein clearing and oak-leaf pattern symptoms of ‘Satsuma’ and ‘Clementine’ mandarins, and ‘Washington navel’ and local oranges in the field in Mersin, Kozan and Adana provinces were collected and grafted on one-year-old sour orange seedlings to maintain Citrus psorosis virus (CPsV) in indicators. Thirty two indicator plants showed typical symptoms of vein flecking, vein clearing, and vein banding with oak-leaf pattern. Eighteen plants gave mild leaf symptoms. CPsV was detected by RT-PCR from CPsV-infected sources. Leaf samples for RT-PCR were collected from symptomatic field trees. In all, thirty samples from different trees of mandarin and twenty samples from different trees of sweet oranges were collected. A 434 bp specific DNA for the coat protein was amplified from the cDNA of CPsV-infected leaf samples. This specific DNA product was not amplified from healthy leaf samples or asymptomatic leaves collected from CPsV-infected trees.