© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal - Special Issue
46
of these pathogens in Greece, field samples
from new peach orchards of the prefecture
of Imathia were collected during the years
2010-2011. Overall, 360 samples of different
varieties of nectarine and peach were col-
lected and tested for the presence of these
viruses by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
protocols developed for their detection. The
results revealed high incidence of the patho-
gens PLMVd (66.66%) and PNRSV (16.1%),
while PPV (0.83%), ACLSV (1.11%), PDV (1.38
%) and ESFY (0.55%) were detected very
rarely. According to these results, it is obvi-
ous that the implementation of the recent
regulation for the production and distribu-
tion of certified propagative material should
be mandatory.
First report of
Plum pox potyvirus
in almond in Greece in the context of
phytosanitary control
M. K
APONI
1
, I.A. A
XARLI
2
, P. K
OUTRETSIS
2
, N. N
IKOLOUDAKIS
2
, P. D
ROGOUDI
3
and M.G. B
ERBATI
4
1
5 Myrtiotissas Str., GR-151 26 Maroussi, Athens, Greece.
2
Ministry of Rural
Development and Food, Control Station for Vegetative Propagation Material, 2
Antheon Str., GR-151 23 Maroussi, Athens, Greece.
3
Institute of Deciduous Trees,
General Administration of Agricultural Research, ELGO ‘DEMETRA’, GR-590 35
Naoussa, Greece.
4
26 Doxis Str., GR-181 22, Korydallos, Piraeus, Greece
Phytosanitary control is critical for crop
health and for transport and certification
of plant propagation material, especially in
case of quarantine pathogens, such as
Plum
pox potyvirus
(PPV). PPV has been naturally
found in almond (
Prunus dulcis
, syn.
Prunus
amygdalus
Batsch) inHungary, Romania, Bul-
garia, Russia, Turkey and India. In addition,
almond resistance to PPV has been well es-
tablished. In the Control Station for Vegeta-
tive Propagation Material of Greek Ministry
of Rural Development and Food, phytosani-
tary control is always practiced by applying
DAS-ELISA, an immunochemical method
implementing polyclonal antibodies. Dur-
ing the years 2010-2012 PPV was detected in
leaf samples from almond trees cvs ‘Drepan-
oto’ and ‘Retsou’, collected at Hemathia and
Attica, respectively. The leaves tested were
collected from all directions of the canopy
and showed no or mild symptoms (mottle,
distortion, chlorosis and vein clearing). In
order to detect the virus in almond, immu-
nocapture RT-PCR (IC-RT-PCR) was tried in
DAS-ELISA- and PPV-positive almond sam-
ples, in the presence of proper positive con-
trols. This method is economically efficient
for conducting tests, as no separate nucle-
otide extraction is needed. Application of
this method will allow for the rapid detec-
tion of the virus in extensive phytosanitary
controls in almond, a concealed host of this
important pathogen.
Phenotypic and functional analysis of
SERRATE
in
Nicotiana tabacum
plants
N. K
RIOVRISANAKI
1,2
, T. A
LEXIADIS
1,2
and K. K
ALANTIDIS
1,2
1
Department of Biology, University of Crete, Vassilika Vouton, GR-714 09 Heraklion,
Crete, Greece
.
2
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for
Research and Technology, Greece, GR-711 10 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
RNA silencing is an evolutionarily conserved
mechanism present in most eukaryotes. It is
implicated in sequence-specific regulation
of gene expression, genome stabilization,
as well as in antiviral defense. Small RNAs
(sRNAs, 21-24nt-long), including microRNAs
(miRNAs) and small–interfering RNAs (siR-
NAs), are key components of the RNA silenc-
ing mechanism. miRNAs are involved in the
regulation of developmental processes and
