Sharka is a disease that affects stone fruit trees of the genus Prunus, including peach, apricot and plum trees. Also known as "plum pox", the disease was first identified in Bulgaria in 1915. It is considered the most serious
affliction of stone fruit trees in terms of economic and agricultural impact. The virus causes the appearance of chloritic rings on leaves and fruits, as well as the malformation and early dropping of plum, apricot and peach fruit. The misshapen fruit, which are poor in sugar, cannot be sold. At present, the disease is mostly fought using preventive measures, with regular monitoring of orchards and nurseries, immediate removal of contaminated plants, and the use of clean or certified planting equipment.
The Sharka Containment (SharCo) European programme aims to develop integrated disease-fighting strategies to prevent the spread of sharka. These include detection, epidemiology, surveillance and prevention in nurseries and orchards, creation of resistant varieties, and the assessment of new resistance strategies. The programme will focus on developing systems to detect, evaluate and take appropriate measures in case strains yet unknown in Europe make their appearance. The goal of the project is to create sharka risk management systems throughout Europe to reinforce existing policies, with the participation of each Member State's fruit and plant protection networks.
François Houllier, INRA scientific director for Plants and Plant Products, said "This alliance of researchers at an international level will allow us to make significant gains in learning about this disease, and help establish an integrated strategy that can be used in all countries."
Researchers have already made plans to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals, organise a symposium in 2011, and release a report in 2012, in the interests of information dissemination, one of the stated goals of European programmes. Patent applications are also being considered in case new resistant genes are identified or new biotechnological methods leading to sharka virus resistance are developed.
During the press conference, three of the researchers presented the programme as a whole, and also discussed work being carried out in their specific laboratories.
Véronique Decroocq, geneticist and programme coordinator, presented the work to be conducted at INRA-Bordeaux on characterising the pathogen's diversity at a global level. She also discussed research on new mechanisms of plant resistance to the virus in Prunus species and the model species Arabidopsis thaliana.
Miroslav Glasa, a virologist at the Slovak Academy of Sciences Institute of Virology, presented his research on the epidemiology and detection of various viral strains in central European member states.
Mariano Cambra, an epidemiologist from the Agricultural Research Institute of Valencia (Spain), discussed his research on new virus detection and protection methods, particularly in plant nurseries.
© INRA, C. Maître
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