Introduction
Fruit trees and grapevine are propagated vegetatively and are often grafted | |
As a result they suffer from a high number of pathogens such as viruses and viroids, with some of them causing severe yield losses and reducing the productive life of the affected plants | |
These pathogens cannot be controlled by the application of chemicals therefore the most efficient way to combat them is the production and commercialization of high quality pathogen-tested propagative material |
Objectives of VirFree
VirFree brings together participants from both academia and privatecompanies to collaborate through their expertise on the following objectives: |
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to identify new viral and viroid strains or species affecting fruit trees and grapevine |
to optimize existing and develop novel detection methods |
to improve propagation and sanitation methods for producing high quality (virus-tested) plant material of fruit trees and grapevine |
Approach
Diagnostic tools currently used in certification schemes will becombined with cutting edge technologies such as NGS and Nanobodies |
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Expected benefits
Training of a new generation of researchers to fulfill the needs of both industrial and academic sectors |
Enrich the knowledge on viruses/viroids associated with different diseases |
Improve the sensitivity of detection methods |
Development of new detection products |
Improvement of the disseminated propagative material |