Screening of European stone fruit yellows, apple proliferation and pear decline diseases in fruit nurseries with focus on latent infection

The occurrence of phytoplasmas was monitored in nurseries by PCR testing to determine the level of infection with these regulated non-quarantine pests in propagation materials of pome and stone fruits in the Czech Republic (central Europe) in 2022. Fourteen fruit nurseries were visited in ten regions of the Czech Republic. Out of a total of 640 samples (various cultivars of apple, pear, plum, apricot and peach) collected, only 7 apricots were detected as infected by ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ which represents 1.09% infection rate out of all tested trees. The obtained results show that the current occurrence of phytoplasmas in the propagation material of fruit trees in the Czech Republic is very low and the situation is promising, reflecting the successful application of phytosanitary measures.