LAUSR

Abstract A survey was conducted to know the incidence of viruses in apricot growing in the Srinagar and Shopian regions of Jammu and Kashmir during May 2015. A total of 52 leaf samples were obtained and virus infection was confirmed using nucleic acid spot hybridization (NASH) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The infectivity of cherry virus A (CVA) and prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) was found to be 44% and 98% by NASH and 36% and 77% by RT-PCR, respectively. Based on the sequence variability of RdRp, CVA isolates found globally have been grouped into six phylogroups (Group 1–6), whereas PNRSV isolates from India have been divided into three phylogroups (Group 1, Group 2A and Group 2B) based on coat protein gene. Our findings prove that PNRSV and CVA are the two significant viruses of apricot, with PNRSV being the leading cause of apricot necrosis in old orchards.