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Plum Pox Virus Resistance in Peaches

Plum Pox Virus (PPV or Sharka virus) is a disease that can attack in all Prunus species.  It was initially found in North America in both peaches and plums that entered from Europe in 1999 and was more recently found in the USA in 2006.  Common in Europe prior to this date, it is a debilitating disease that reduces tree vigor, productivity and fruit quality. With no known cure, prevention of infection by the disease may be possible in North America through tree eradication, but control in Europe will require the development of disease resistant peach varieties.

Following initiatives taken by a number of other research institutions, OSF is now developing PPV resistant cultivars by silencing the PPV coat protein (CP) gene. Proof of Concept of this approach has been achieved in plums; and OSF is now using the recently developed peach transformation systems to develop proof of concept of this approach in peach cultivars to infer resistance to PPV.  Testing of new peach lines for PPV resistance is now underway.