Efficiency of a chemo-thermotherapy technique for eliminating Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) from in vitro rose plantlets

Mosaic is presumably the most commonly encountered viral disease in roses. We have developed chemo-thermotherapy for eliminating Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) from rose plants. Chemotherapy and thermotherapy methods were also applied separately and their antiviral effect compared with the chemo-thermotherapy. In this procedure, infected explants were regenerated on MS medium containing ribavirin at concentrations of 10, 20 and 30 mg/l for 20 and 40 days, followed by a thermotherapy treatment for 30 days at 38 °C for 16 hours and 22 °C for 8 hours per day. The complex of rose viruses (ArMV and PNRSV) were effectively eradicated from regenerated rose plantlets as verified by doubleantibody sandwich enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA). Thermotherapy alongside with chemotherapy (containing 30 mg/l per one month) during the period of four weeks was the best treatment for plantlet regeneration and virus elimination. The virus elimination efficiency from ArMV, PNRSV and ArMV + PNRSV infected plants were determined as 63.33%, 90.09% and 85.18%, respectively. A detailed procedure for elimination of mixed viruses is described.