Assessment of susceptibility to European stone fruit yellows phytoplasma of new plum variety and of five rootstock/plum variety combinations.

Two separate experiments were carried out to assess the plum susceptibility to infection by European stone fruit yellows phytoplasmas during a five year period. Commercial varieties /cultivars and new selections grafted on Myrabolan 29C were evaluated in at least two plots of four plants each. Visual inspection and PCR/RFLP identification of phytoplasmas detected an increasing phytoplasma presence in both symptomatic and asymptomatic plants. Eight Japanese plum selections showed ESFY symptoms or pathogen presence in the 50% of the plants and nine selections showed ESFY infection in the 20% of the plants. Only nine selections showed absence of both symptoms and pathogen. Although the European selections/cultivars were not symptomatic, plants belonging to six of these cultivars were positive to phytoplasma presence. The evaluation of cultivar/rootstock combinations indicate phytoplasma presence from the first year after plantation. Two of the rootstocks seems to induce a delay in symptoms appearance and cultivar T.C. Sun resulted the most susceptible to the disease independently from the rootstock employed