• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.267-279
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• 2020

Fig mosaic is a viral disease (FMD) that spreads in Palestinian common fig (Ficus carica L.) orchards. Recognizing the economic value of fig plants and the harmful nature of FMD, the disease poses a significant threat to the economy of the fig production in Palestine. We applied the reverse transcription and amplification (RT-PCR) and PCR technique to leaf samples of 77 trees and 14 seedlings of 17 fig cultivars. The samples were collected from orchards in the main fig-growing provinces of the Palestinian West Bank, to assess the prevalence of viruses associated with FMD, and confirm a possible link of symptoms with viruses detected. Four viruses were detected: Fig mosaic virus (FMV), Fig badnavirus-1 (FBV-1), Fig leaf mottle-associated virus 2 (FLMaV-2), and Fig fleck-associated virus (FFkaV). FMV and FBV-1 were found in all tested fig plants (100%), while FLMaV-2 and FFkaV were detected in 61.5% and 33% of the fig samples, respectively. The high incidence of FBV-1 in the newly propagated symptomatic and symptomless seedlings from different cultivars may be an indication that FBV-1 is integrated into the genome of the fig in a cultivar nondiscriminatory manner. Very weak or no association was detected between FMD symptoms severity in the 17 Palestinian fig cultivars with the various viruses' combinations observed (i.e., number of the viruses infecting the plant). These results support the notion that FMD symptom severity expression is likely to be controlled by a combination of FMV infection, cultivars, and environmental factors, rather than the number of viruses infecting the plant.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.288-295
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• 2017

Fig mosaic disease (FMD) is a viral disease that spreads in all Tunisian fig (Ficus carica L.) orchards. RT-PCR technique was applied to leaf samples of 29 fig accessions of 15 fig varieties from the fig germplasm collection of High Agronomic Institute (I.S.A) of ChattMariem, to detect viruses associated to FMD. Analysis results show that 65.5% of the accessions (19/29) and 80.0% (12/15) of the fig varieties are infected by FMD-associated viruses. From all fig accessions, 41.4% of them are with single infection (one virus) and 24.1% are with multi-infections (2 virus and more). Viruses infecting fig leaf samples are Fig mosaic virus (FMV) (20.7%), Fig milde-mottle-associated virus (FMMaV) (17.25%), Fig fleck associated virus (FFkaV) (3.45%), and Fig cryptic virus (FCV) (55.17%). A reliable protocol for FCV and FMMaV elimination from 4 local fig varieties Zidi (ZDI), Soltani (SNI), Bither Abiadh (BA), and Assafri (ASF) via in vitro culture of 3 meristem sizes was established and optimized. With this protocol, global sanitation rates of 79.46%, 65.55%, 68.75%, and 70.83% respectively for ZDI, SNI, BA, and ASF are achieved. For all sanitized varieties, the effectiveness of meristem culture for the elimination of FCV and FMMaV viruses was related to meristem size. Meristem size 0.5 mm provides the highest sanitation rates ranging from 70% to 90%.