A review of the status of Avocado sunblotch viroid in Australia

Avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBVd) can seriously impact both the yield and quality of avocado fruit and is also a serious impediment to international trade because of quarantine conditions imposed by importing countries. The Australian avocado industry was among the first in the world to adopt control measures for ASBVd, an outcome of distinguished research done by Australian scientists during the 1970-80s. The status of ASBVd in Australia has not been recently reviewed and much information is either not published or difficult to find. In this review, this information has been collated and comment made on historical distribution and prevalence, in order to guide future surveys and to allow evaluation of the success of the control programs.