Strawberry Virus Diseases Occurring in Korea, 2007-2008

Virus disease surveys of strawberries cultivated and preserved as germplasm resources in Korea was conducted during 2007-2008. Virus detection was conducted by RT-PCR using total RNAs extracted from strawberry samples. We detected the infection with Strawberry mild yellow edge virus (SMYEV), Strawberry mottle virus (SMoV), Strawberry vein banding virus (SVBV) and Strawberry pallidosis associated virus (SPaV) while no infection with Strawberry crinkle virus (SCV), Strawberry necrotic shock virus (SNSV), Strawberry latent ring spot virus (SLRSV) and Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) was observed. The infection rate of virus disease on 4 cultivars including Seolhyang, Maehyang, Gumhyang, and Dahong, bred in Korea, was 0.1, 1.9, 0, and 0%, respectively. Surprisingly, however, cultivar Red Peal introduced from Japan in 1997 revealed 48.3% virus infection rate. SMYEV, SMoV and SPaV were also identified in strawberries growing in the farm fields of Korea. In the field, however, SMYEV was the most predominant virus (97.4%) among those 3 identified viruses. SVBV was detected only in strawberry kept as a germplasm.