ASSESSMENT OF THE HEALTH STATUS OF GRAPEVINE GENETIC RESOURCES IN TERMS OF VIRAL DISEASES
YORDAN IV.TSVETKOV1*, IVANKA KAMENOVA2, IVAN TSVETKOV2,
YANA EVSTATIEVA1, YORDAN TSVETKOV3
1Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Biology, 8 Dragan Tsankov blvd., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria
2Agrobioinstitute, 8 Dragan Tsankov blvd., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria
3Experimental Station of Viticulture, 5 Saedinenie Str., 4490 Septemvri, Bulgaria
*Corresponding author: jordantsvetkov@icloud.com
Keywords: genetic resources, grapevine viruses, DAS-ELISA, grapevine certification, genebank management
Abstract: Following requirements of the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) and the European Genebank Integrated System (AEGIS), a total of 172 accessions from the Agrobioinstitute grapevine genebank including varieties, rootstocks, wild grapes, local autochthonous varieties and new selected forms were periodically checked for their virus health status. The results obtained showed that total of 16.27% of the DAS-ELISA tested accessions were infected by one (89.29%) or more viruses (10.71%). The most of tested plants were infected by Grapevine leafroll associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) (14.53%), followed by Grapevine leafroll associated virus 1 (GLRaV-1) (2.91%), while the Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) (0.58%) was scarcely represented. Mixed infections (GLRaV-1 + GLRaV-3) were detected in 6 plants (3.48%). All tested genebank accessions for Grapevine fleck virus (GFkV) were virus free. Infected plants were quarantined. Additional sanitization work, including tissue culture combined with thermotherapy and treatment with antiviral chemicals was initiated.