{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T13:58:24Z","timestamp":1785419904711,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783900800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100019644","name":"Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["BR22885401"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BR22885401"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100019644","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["BR22885401"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BR22885401"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03577hm03","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Latent viral and viroid infections represent a major phytosanitary threat to pome fruit production because infected propagation material facilitates the long-term spread of pathogens in orchards. This study investigated the prevalence of viral and viroid pathogens in apple and pear orchards of southern and southeastern Kazakhstan and evaluated the efficiency of integrated in vitro sanitation approaches. A total of 34 samples collected from commercial orchards were analyzed using RT-qPCR. Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV) was the most prevalent pathogen detected across all surveyed regions, followed by Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV). Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), Apple hammerhead viroid (AHVd), Apple mosaic virus (ApMV), and Apple rubbery wood virus 1 (ARWV-1) were detected at lower frequencies. Notably, ARWV-1 and AHVd were detected exclusively in the Almaty Region, representing their first molecular detection in Kazakhstan. Mixed infections were common, and visual symptoms did not consistently correlate with molecular detection results, emphasizing the importance of RT-qPCR for reliable phytosanitary diagnostics. Integrated sanitation methods combining thermotherapy, chemotherapy, cryotherapy, and meristem culture effectively eliminated viral and viroid infections from infected apple and pear genotypes. Ribavirin at 15 mg L\u22121 provided the optimal balance between antiviral activity and explant viability. Complete elimination of ACLSV, AHVd, ASPV, ASGV, ApMV, and ARWV-1 was achieved after combined treatment, while regenerated plants maintained stable micropropagation capacity. The obtained results demonstrate the necessity of routine molecular monitoring and support the development of virus-free certification systems for pome fruit crops in Kazakhstan.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18070767","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T02:34:44Z","timestamp":1783996484000},"page":"767","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevalence, Molecular Detection, and In Vitro Elimination of Latent Viruses and Viroids in Pome Fruit Germplasm of Kazakhstan"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Aigul","family":"Madenova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7544-9182","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dinara","family":"Kaldybayeva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"},{"name":"Institute of Natural Sciences and Geography, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Dostyk av., 13, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6476-1007","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Timur","family":"Turdiyev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raigul","family":"Abdikarimova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yerkenaz","family":"Kaiypzhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8473-6845","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Balnur","family":"Kabylbekova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sagi","family":"Soltanbekov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1703-1431","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhankeldy","family":"Aitymbet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"<i>In vitro<\/i> Genetic Resources Laboratory, Kazakh Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, Almaty 050060, Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0637-9619","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad Azhar","family":"Nadeem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mersin University, \u00c7iftlikk\u00f6y Kamp\u00fcs\u00fc, 33343 Mersin, T\u00fcrkiye"},{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Samarkand State University, Samarkand 140104, Uzbekistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7470-0080","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Faheem Shehzad","family":"Baloch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mersin University, \u00c7iftlikk\u00f6y Kamp\u00fcs\u00fc, 33343 Mersin, T\u00fcrkiye"},{"name":"Department of Genetics, Institute of Biochemistry, Sh. Rashidov Samarkand State University, Samarkand 140104, Uzbekistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"van Regenmortel, M., and Mahy, B. (2009). Plant virus diseases: Economic aspects. Desk Encyclopedia of Plant and Fungal Virology, Academic Press. [1st ed.]."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1186\/s40066-022-00366-5","article-title":"Risk perception associated with an emerging agri-food risk in Europe: Plant viruses in agriculture","volume":"11","author":"Hilaire","year":"2022","journal-title":"Agric. Food Secur."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113836","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jviromet.2020.113836","article-title":"Development of RT-qPCR assays for the detection of three latent viruses of pome fruit trees","volume":"278","author":"Harper","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Virol. 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