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Justification for qualification based on EPPO PM 4 Standards
Justification for disqualification
Additional or non-conclusive information
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NAME OF THE ORGANISM: Aucuba mosaic agent

GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE PEST

Name as submitted in the project specification (if different):

Pest category:

1- Identity of the pest/Level of taxonomic listing:

Is the organism clearly a single taxonomic entity and can it be adequately distinguished from other entities of the same rank?

Is the pest defined at the species level or lower?:

Can listing of the pest at a taxonomic level higher than species be supported by scientific reasons or can species be identified within the taxonomic rank which are the (main) pests of concern?

Not relevant: Fruits (including hops) sector

If necessary, please list the species:

Is it justified that the pest is listed at a taxonomic rank below species level?

Not relevant

Conclusion:

Not candidate: Fruits (including hops) sector

Justification (if necessary):

Note on taxonomy: Thresh (1967) refers to three papers from ‘Czechoslovakia and Holland’ referring to a yellow blotch symptom as ‘aucuba mosaic’ suggesting this should be more correctly referred to as European currant mosaic, partly to differentiate this from American currant mosaic. This is then carried forward by van der Meer (1987) and into EPPO Standard PM4/9. Experimentally, the disease can be transmitted between currants by grafting. Negative results of sap inoculation experiments, reported by several authors suggest that the causal agent is not mechanically transmissible, and there is no information on the way and rate of natural spread in red currants. Although Jacob (1976) isolated potato virus Y (PVY) from five red currant cultivars that showed yellow leaf spot, his results have not been confirmed by other authors (Van der Meer, 1987), and neither PVY nor any potyvirus has been reported in currants since then (Špak et al., 2021) (cited from Tzanetakis et al, in press).
Phantom agents have been associated with symptomatic plants and diseases of unknown etiology. Most phantom agents are presumed to be of viral nature, yet (i) neither infected plant material nor reference isolates are available, and (ii) no sequence information is accessible, Aucuba mosaic agent fulfils these criteria (Tzanetakis et al., in press).
[When responding to the questionnaire, no countries supported its recommendation for regulation as an RNQP. LT and NL supported its delisting as an RNQP in the EU because of no known identity and no isolates available.]
The Fruit SEWG considered that certification in the future should focus on the absence of specific virus-like pathogens (viruses, viroids, phytoplasmas) rather than on symptoms of diseases where the pathogen and its sequence data are unknown and not reported for decades but presented in the certification schemes. Because Aucuba mosaic agent does not fulfill the requirement of identity, it was not recommended for listing as an RNQP.

2 – Status in the EU:

Is this pest already a quarantine pest for the whole EU?

Presence in the EU:

List of countries (EPPO Global Database):

Conclusion:

Justification (if necessary):

HOST PLANT N°1: Ribes (1RIBG) for the Fruits (including hops) sector.

Origin of the listing:

Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2014/98/EU and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072

Plants for planting:

Plants intended for planting

3 - Is the pest already listed in a PM4 standard on the concerned host plant?

Yes

Conclusion:

Justification (if necessary):

Listed in Standard PM 4-9 Certification scheme for Ribes as 'Aucuba mosaic'.

4 - Are the listed plants for planting the main* pathway for the "pest/host/intended use" combination? (*: significant compared to others):

Conclusion:

Justification:

5 - Economic impact:

Are there documented reports of any economic impact on the host?

Justification:

What is the likely economic impact of the pest irrespective of its infestation source in the absence of phytosanitary measures? (= official measures)

Is the economic impact due to the presence of the pest on the named host plant for planting, acceptable to the propagation and end user sectors concerned?

Is there unacceptable economic impact caused to other hosts (or the same host with a different intended use) produced at the same place of production due to the transfer of the pest from the named host plant for planting?

Conclusion:

Justification:

6 - Are there feasible and effective measures available to prevent the presence of the pest on the plants for planting at an incidence above a certain threshold (including zero) to avoid an unacceptable economic impact as regards the relevant host plants?

Conclusion:

Justification:

7- Is the quality of the data sufficient to recommend the pest to be listed as a RNQP?

Conclusion:

Justification:

CONCLUSION ON THE STATUS:

Disqualified: phantom agent with unclear taxonomy

8 - Tolerance level:

Is there a need to change the Tolerance level:

Yes

Proposed Tolerance levels:

Delisting

9 - Risk management measures:

Is there a need to change the Risk management measure:

Yes

Proposed Risk management measure:

Delisting

REFERENCES:

Converse RH (ed.) (1987) Virus diseases of small fruits. United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook no. 631. Specifically: van der Meer F.A. Yellow leaf spot of Red Currant p163.
ICVF (2023) 25th International Conference on Virus and other graft transmissible diseases of Fruit crops (ICVF). 'Let's keep our fruits healthy'. Book of abstracts. Wageningen, 9-13 July 2023.
Jacob H (1976) Investigations on symptomatology, transmission, etiology, and host specificity of black currant reversion virus. Acta Horticulturae 66:99-104.
Thresh JM (1967) Virus diseases of Red Currant, East Malling Research Station Report for 1966. http://www.isppweb.org/icpve/thresh/Virus%20diseases%20of%20red%20currant.pdf (accessed online 10-16 January 2017).
Tzanetakis IE, Aknadibossian V, Špak J, Constable F, Harper SJ, Hammond J, Candresse T, Folimonova SY, Freitas-Astúa J, Fuchs M, Jelkmann W, Maliogka VI, Marais A, Martin RR, Mollov D, Vidalakis G, Aboughanem-Sabanadzovic N, Al Rwahnih M, Alabi OJ, Alioto D, Atanda HY, Bagi F, Baranwal VK, Barbosa C, Bar-Joseph M, Batista Le Riverend L, Belien T, Benítez-Galeano MJ, Bennypaul H, Bertaccini A, Bester R, Blouin AG, Blystad D-R, Botermans M, Bozan O, Brakta A, Brans Y, Bulajić A, Caglayan K, Catara A, Choueiri E, Cieślińska M, Cook G, Cui W, da Graça J, Davino S, Delmiglio C, Dewdney M, Di Serio F, Diaz-Lara A, Digiaro M, Djelouah K, Donovan N. Druciarek TZ, Duran-Vila N, Elçi E, Esquivel-Fariña A, Fall ML, Figueroa J, Fiore N, Fowkes AR, Fox A, Fránová J, Fuchs R, Gaafar YZA, García ML, Ghosh D, Girardi E, Glasa M, Gomez Talquenca S, , Gratz A, Gritsenko D, Hajeri S, Hajizadeh M, Hamborg Z, Ho T, Holeva M, Holkar SK, Horner M, Hurtado-Gonzales OP, Ippolito A, Isac V, Iwanami T, Jofre-y-Garfias AE, Jordan R, Katis N, Koloniuk I, Konings H, Križanac I, Krueger R, Kyrychenko A, Laranjeira F, Lavagi-Craddock I, Levy A, Licciardello G, Lu Q-Y, MacFarlane SA, Marcone C, Maree HJ, Margaria P, Martić A, Massart S, Mathioudakis MM, Matić S, Mavric Plesko I, Meekes ETM, Mehle N, Melzer MJ, Meng B, Menzel W, Miljanić V, Minafra A, Minutolo M, Mitra A, Moreno P, Navarro L, Navarro B, Nerva L, Okić A, Olmos A, Onelge N, Osundahunsi B, Palacios MF, Pallas V, Panno S, Perez-Egusquiza Z, Poudel-Ward B, Radišek S, Ramos-González PL, Ramteke P, Ranabhat NB, Rivarez MPS, Rivas F, Roenhorst A, Roy A, Ruiz-García AB, Sabanadzovic S, Šafářová D, Saldarelli P, Salem N, Sanahuja Solsona G, Schoen R, Sharma SK, Shilts T, Sierra-Mejia A, Singh S, Skelton A, Škorić D, Stainton D, Štajner N, Starović M, Stuchi E, Svoboda P, Tahzima R, Tang J, Tessitori M, Thermoz J-P, Thompson E, Thompson J, Trebicki P, Turina M, Ulubas Serce C, Umble J, Valiunas D, Varallyay E, Varma A, Varveri C, Vasquez-Gutierrez U, Vazquez-Iglesias I, Veerakone S, Villamor DE, Vives MC, Vončina D, Wang J, Wenxing X, Westenberg M, Wetzel T, Winter S, Wright G, Wulff NA, Xu Dong F, Ya Feng D, Yokomi R, Zhou C, Zikeli K& Zindović J (accepted) Streamlining global germplasm exchange: Integrating scientific rigor and common sense to exclude phantom agents from regulation. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-04-24-0745-FE
Van der Meer FA (1987) Yellow leaf spot disease of red currant. In Virus diseases of small fruits (ed Converse RH). US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Handbook No. 631, 152-153.
Špak J, Koloniuk I & Tzanetakis IE (2021) Graft-transmissible diseases of Ribes – pathogens, impact and control. Plant Disease 105, 242-250. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-04-20-0759-FE.