Apple Tree Diseases: Apple Mosaic Virus

This is in continuation to my previous post on Diseases of apple: Management of SootyBlotch and Fly Speck. In today’s post we are going to discuss about the Apple Mosaic Virus.

Apple Mosaic

Causal Organism: Apple mosaic virus (ApMV)

Description: In the spring, pale yellow to cream-coloured areas develop on expanding leaves of infected apple trees. These areas may appear as small spots, flecks, irregular blotches, vein-net patterns, line patterns, or bands along major veins. As the season advances, they turn from pale yellow or cream to a lighter chrome yellow or white and then soon become necrotic. Severely affected leaves abscise prematurely.

Economic Impact

In general, ApMV does not have much affect on fruit production and quality. However, severely infected Lord Lambourne trees often produce fruits with cream coloured blotches.  The virus results in yield reductions varying from slight to 50 per cent.  Crop losses of up to 42 per cent were recorded in infected hazelnut and average losses of 25 per cent were recorded from almonds affected by almond mosaic, a complex disease in which ApMV plays a major etiological role.

In my coming post I shall be discussing about apple cholorotic leaf virus