Abstract
Viral diseases pose a serious threat to commercial horticulture, reducing crop yields, fruit quality, and the longevity of fruit trees. Pear (Pyrus communis L.) is susceptible to a variety of viral pathogens, among which Apple mosaic virus (ApMV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), and Apple rubbery wood virus 1 (ARWV-1) were selected for this study due to their known latent nature and difficulty of early detection. Effective plant recovery from viruses is key to creating healthy planting material and implementing clonal micropropagation programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of in vitro thermotherapy combined with meristem culture for virus elimination in pear cultivars: “Noyabrskaya” “Talgarskaya Krasavitsa”, “Anjou” and “Harrow Delight”. For each variety combination, two methods were tested: (1) direct cultivation of apical meristems and (2) preliminary thermotherapy followed by meristem isolation. Viral infection was diagnosed using a double antibody in the DAS-ELISA format and confirmed by real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR); the results of both methods were completely consistent. The combined approach resulted in significantly higher virus elimination rates (up to 85.7%) compared to the isolated meristem method (up to 50%). The highest recovery efficiency was recorded in the “Noyabrskaya” infected with two viruses (ApMV and ARWV-1). Despite the lower survival rate after thermotherapy, this method demonstrated high reliability in obtaining virus-free material. The results obtained confirm the feasibility of using in vitro thermotherapy in combination with meristem culture in the production of certified pear planting material.