Effects of economically important virus diseases on the expression of some pomological traits and nutritional compounds in GM plum cultivar HoneySweet (Prunus domestica L.)

Abstract

Economically important viruses infect plums and other stone fruits cause lower yields, fruit size and quality and also affect its chemical composition. Fruits of the genetically modified (GM) plum 'HoneySweet' growing on trees deliberately infected with Plum pox virus (PPV), Prune dwarf virus (PDV) and Apple chlorotic leaf-spot virus (ACLSV) were analysed in detail to determine what effects these virus infections have on selected pomological traits, dissolved solids and titratable acids. Assessments of the fruits were made in the years from 2011 to 2014. The GM plum 'HoneySweet' was chosen for this experiment, and uninfected trees of the same variety in the same orchard were used as control. It was shown that there was no effect on dissolved solids resulting from PPV infections, either alone or in combination with the other viruses, but that there was a significant effect on levels of titratable acids where trees had been inoculated with all three viruses (treatment I). Regarding pomological traits, in most cases there were no significant effects seen to affect internal characteristics, only that in the assessments were lower although still of an acceptable quality for commercial fruit.

Keywords

• inoculation
• plum pox virus
• prune dwarf virus
• apple chlorotic leaf-spot virus
• pomological traits
• nutritional compounds