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Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, numerous plant viruses, both old and new, have emerged, causing epidemics in economically important crops, influenced by new trends in the global market and climate change. In addition, these phenomena are highly favoured by the presence of the vigorous genetic variability and evolution of pathogens. RNA viruses have a great potential for genetic variation, rapid evolution, and adaptation as a consequence of high mutation rates, large population sizes, recombination events, and very short generation times. The characterization of the genetic variability and structure of viral populations provides relevant information on the processes involved in virus evolution and epidemiology. This knowledge is also crucial for designing fast and specific diagnostic tools and developing efficient and durable disease control strategies. The majority of viruses infecting plants are spread by insects. Hence, the detection and identification of viruses and control of their vectors are crucial in terms of crop protection. This Special Issue of Plants will focus on studies that address the variability of plant viruses, factors that promote the emergence of new virus species and variants, the development of fast and efficient diagnostic tools, and methods to control plant viral diseases.

Prof. Dr. Beata Hasiów-Jaroszewska
Dr. Matthaios M. Mathioudakis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

plant viruses
genetic variability
phylogenetic relationships
diagnostic
control
vectors

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 6111 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Molecular Characteristics of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus—PAS—The Main Causal Agent of Barley Yellow Dwarf Disease in Poland

by Katarzyna Trzmiel and Beata Hasiów-Jaroszewska

Plants 2023, 12(19), 3488; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12193488 - 6 Oct 2023

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Abstract

Barley yellow dwarf is a threat to cereal crops worldwide. Barley yellow dwarf virus—PAS (BYDV-PAS) was detected for the first time in Poland in 2015, then in 2019. In the spring of 2021, in several locations in Poland, winter wheat and barley plants with dwarfism and leaf yellowing were collected. Reverse transcription—polymerase chain reaction results revealed BYDV presence in 47 samples and excluded wheat streak mosaic virus infections. Next, immuno-captured polymerase chain reactions confirmed only one case of co-infection caused by BYDV and wheat dwarf virus. Moreover, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis showed that BYDV-PAS was predominant. The preliminary results were confirmed using sequencing. Infected cereal plants originated mainly from northwestern Poland. The complete coding sequence of coat protein (CP) and a fragment of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) genes of 14 Polish isolates were determined and deposited in the GenBank database. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of local isolates were compared with others reported to date, indicating their high similarity, from 75.4% to 99.5% and from 81.1% to 100% nucleotide sequence identity, in RdRp and CP, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the CP gene, revealed the presence of 3 main groups. The Polish isolates clustered together within the Ia group. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Variability, Diagnosis and Control of Plant Viruses and Viroids)

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13 pages, 2867 KiB

Open AccessBrief Report

Genetic Variation and Evolutionary Analysis of Eggplant Mottled Dwarf Virus Isolates from Spain

by Ana Alfaro-Fernández, Rafael Taengua, Isabel Font-San-Ambrosio, Esmeralda Sanahuja-Edo, Rosa Peiró, Luis Galipienso and Luis Rubio

Plants 2024, 13(2), 250; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13020250 - 16 Jan 2024

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Abstract

The genetic variation and population structure of gene N (nucleocapsid) and part of gene L (replicase) from 13 eggplant mottle dwarf virus (EMDV) isolates from Spain were evaluated and compared with sequences of EMDV isolates from other countries retrieved from GenBank. Phylogenetic inference of part of gene L showed three main clades, one containing an EMDV isolate from Australia and the other two containing isolates from Iran and Europe, as well as four subclades. EMDV isolates from Spain were genetically very similar and grouped in a subclade together with one isolate from Germany and one from the UK. No new recombination events were detected in addition to one recombination previously reported, suggesting that recombination is rare for EMDV. The comparison of synonymous and non-synonymous rates showed that negative selection played an important role, and only two codons were under positive selection. Genetic differentiation (F_st test), phylogenetic and nucleotide diversity analyses suggest a unique introduction of EMDV to Spain and low gene flow with other countries. In contrast, Greece and Italy showed diverse populations with high gene flow between both. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Variability, Diagnosis and Control of Plant Viruses and Viroids)

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