ELIMINATION OF FIG MOSAIC FROM FIG SHOOT-TIP CULTURES BY THERMOTHERAPY

Interesting article!  I had to use a converter to figure it out, but  it translates 37 c = 97 F, 34 c = 92F 

Still confused.  It's hotter than that here in summer, and we still get FMV!!

Suzi

hmm

This is interesting since I am about to start several fig crosses as soon as my caprifigs mature to work on several new winter hardy strains.

Full text attached

Good find! This paper was published in 1997. At that time it was impossible to demonstrate that the heat treatment eliminated all the viral genetic material. There are countries (Turkey, Egypt, etc.) where figs represent a far more important part of their agriculture that are using heat treatment of fig tissue cultures to elminate FMD viruses and demonstrating that using molecular biology (DNA) based tests.

Suzi,

If I understand this from citrus "cleaning" techniques, they only treat material from the very, very tip. I can't remember all the details, but the are not cleaning the whole tree.

Here is one technique: Micro budding

Heat treating of citrus for some viruses is done over a period of several months at elevated temps, and even then the newer growth is clean, but the older growth is still infected. By taking the clean tip and grafting them onto clean rootstock, they are about to produce "clean" trees from which to harvest clean budwood for production of clean nursery trees. The whole process can take a year or two, including observing the grafted tree in a screen house and checking it for signs of infection by a variety of methods over an extended amount of time.

See also Heat Treatment

Even if all these techniques are perfected and used for cleaning up the virus within the fig population...how would that help us fig growers and collectors?  The open exchange of cuttings and plant materials between, not only us, but commercial growers would never stop, and the disease will still spread.  Will West-Coast growers voluntarily kill all their infected stock?  Will UC Davis burn all their fig material that's infected?  I doubt this disease could be purged from the fig world...especially when clean stock can be reinfected by the mites that live in warmer areas, where figs grow.  It would take cooperation on a massive scale, both regulatory, and morally, to control this disease, and that ain't gonna happen.  Very interesting articles and information.

Just a few questions to ponder.

Frank

Hi Eden, Is there more info? Could you post a link that I can click on?

Frank, I don't think that would ever happen. The reason I say this, is because FMV doesn't effect the majority of tree in S California to the point of production. So who would eliminate there tree if it's produces just fine. I wouldn't. But what I see from this might be very helpful for people in colder climates where FMV could mean life or deaf. Certain trees that can't be grown here because of virus, will be. Possibly in the near future, we will be able to grow varities that we coundn't in the past.
Wondering why it took so long for anyone to see this info, since the date started in 1968-.


luke

I have that pdf file sent to me in 2009 complete in full, thats just the abstract you see posted in post# 1  . There are 4 total different parts that were sent to me in a zip file.

One posted here in thread plus
propagation thru meristem
fig tissue culture
fig rooting

not for the average gardener but for a lab , if i recall correctly i was told not to post it (for my eyes only) because it was a paid for rights thing or something to that effect.

Jon,

I and many other non-techies, here appreciate your simple explanation of a complicated thing.  I know the method exists with hot water baths for wine grape vine cuttings to eliminate certain diseases.

It is an interesting article and method.  And I know FMV is a problem in certain climates, so I hope it can be resolved there, but Luke makes a good point in saying that states where FMV is not a problem have no reason to invest in the expense to eliminate a disease that doesn't affect them.

So the answer would be found in government regulation, border patrol, and infringing on our rights to exchange plants and cuttings.  I'll vote NO on that!

Suzi

FMV is here to stay.
Like the stressed-human-person cold-lip-sore...

Jon - There is a great pictorial description of the process of growing a fig tree from a small bit if tissue that could readily undergo a heat treatment to eliminate virus(es), hopefully, in this paper.
http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/gmcrops/09SolimanGMC1-1.pdf

Frank, Luke & Suzi - As I read the horticultural literature, my take is that fig researchers are in general agreement that fig mottling disease (FMD) free trees produce more, higher quality fruit than non-FMD trees. I am still looking for the published basis for that apparently universally accepted view. I think you are correct that it is very, very unlikely that established fig groves would be destroyed or there would be any restrictions on cutting exchanges in our country. But, my guess is that is not due to the difficulty of the task or some notion of our rights, but to the fact that there is not a large commercial fig industry in the US. If figs represented a large portion of the agricultural economy in the US, or possibly even California, as say citrus does, then economic pressures might drive a very different result. From reading the literature, I get the sense that countries like Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, and a few others in the mediterranean region are interested in developing FMD free areas. Probably a long ways away, but the researchers over there believe it is doable and if enough money gets behind it, the fig industries there will get what they want I would bet. There are good parallels to this with the citrus industry in this country. The citrus industry has driven incredibly strong, complex federal regulations about the movement of citrus germplasm. So, when some backyard growers violate those rules & introduce huanglongbing (HLB) disease which could ultimately destroy California's multi-billion dollar citrus industry into Southern California, they have begun to find out what really pissed off big money can do to you. Here is an interesting part of the story:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/14/local/la-me-citrus-disease-20120414
More information, though off topic for figs, is at this UC Riverside site:
http://cisr.ucr.edu/asian_citrus_psyllid.html

Good luck with your trees!

POST # 10...Last line.  

More Government intrusions.  We live with enough of this Gov't. crap overshadowing every aspect of out lives...and, our deaths, too.   Besides they'ed botch this just like everything else the do!  Imagine some poor "Fig-Agents" being murdered by guns bought by our Gov't. in the name of stopping FMV.  Sounds ridiculous?  What Gov't screw-up isn't a joke...on us?

Suzi...I'm with you.

Frank

I could see UCD setting up a FMV and non FMV zone. If they saw no difference in the production they would likely destroy their FMV plants and move to giving out only the non FMV. It wouldn't stop it but it would decrease the spread as UCD (and those on this forum) are probably the largest contributors to moving FMV around within the US.

In the getting a cold sore example, it isn't going away but most people also don't tend to TRY to get a cold sore when you know someone is exhibiting symptoms. If two fig trees that are exactly the same except for FMV are available most people would take the FMV one willingly.

It is only us fignuts that might take the FMV one because we don't have one with FMV in our collection yet :D Got to get them all.

From what I've read here, FMV is spread by mites and other chewing type insects that move around from plant to plant.  Hard to make FMV and non FMV zones unless they were in different climates, and even then..........

Suzi

Matt you crack me up.