Himalayan wild cherry (Prunus cerasoides D. Don): A new host of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus.

Himalayan wild cherry (Prunus cerasoides), widely distributed in the Himalayas, was found to exhibit mild virus-like symptoms. Leaf samples from affected plants were subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay indexing for known pome and stone fruit viruses, viz., Apple mosaic virus, Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Prunus necrotic ring spot virus and Apple stem grooving virus. Results showed the presence of ACLSV. For further characterization, the coat protein gene was amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Sequencing of the amplicon confirmed the presence of ACLSV. The isolate shared 98% amino acid sequence identity with P1R9D9 (Bulgarian) and C-2 (Hungarian) isolates of ACLSV. This study reports the presence of ACLSV in Himalayan wild cherry