MOLECULAR DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CITRUS PSOROSIS VIRUS IN CITRUS ORCHARDS IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

In this research, we detected the citrus plants molecularly in citrus orchards. The surveys were conducted in various regions of Northern Cyprus in an area of 3.000 da citrus orchard in 2022. In field surveys, leaf samples were taken from citrus trees suspected to be symptomatically infected with citrus psorosis virus. PCR techniques used for detection and results showed four samples were positive and infected by citrus psorosis virus in Northern Cyprus. After examining the degree of affinity with other CPsV isolates previously detected in different parts of the world, it was determined that the isolate found in Cyprus was the same as CPsV-NA8 (AY194905) from Italy and two isolates from Spain, CPsV-NA35 (AM235964) and CPsV NA4 (AM 235692). At the end of the PCR studies, four samples infected with Citrus Psorosis Virus (CPsV) were determined. The remaining 41 samples gave negative results.