Special Issue "Viruses in Forest and Urban Trees and Shrubs"
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2022) | Viewed by 7048
Special Issue Editors
Interests: emaraviruses; molecular characterization of plant viruses; viruses affecting decidious trees; genetic diversity; virus-plant-vector interaction
Interests: forest virology; epidemiology; emaraviruses; diagnostics; distribution; virus transmission; ecology; virus dendrology; virome in trees
Interests: virus; viroid; metagenomics; diagnostics; genome; virus-plant interactions; mycovirus
Interests: general forest pathology; viruses in forest trees; boreal forests; treeline and climate; retrospective forest pathology and past climate reconstruction; rust and needle diseases; abiotic diseases

Interests: virus epidemiology; plant virome analysis; high throughput sequencing; molecular diagnostics; microbial communitites; microbiome
Interests: forest pathogen molecular diagnostics; foliar pathogens of conifers; root disease fungi; parasitic plants; ecology of soil fungi; mycorrhizal fungi
Special Issue Information
Investigations of viruses in forest ecosystems are extremely rare as compared to viruses of the agricultural and horticultural environment and they are far outnumbered by the number of studies focussed on fungal pathogens and pest insects of forest trees. Many well-characterized viruses and viroids are known from different agricultural cultivars, but only a few viruses have been commonly detected in urban and forest trees and shrubs; viroids have not been detected yet. This lack of knowledge misleads to the impression that viral diseases in forest trees are unimportant. However, viruses are probably responsible for far greater economic losses in these hosts than generally recognized because of the insidious nature of the losses since symptoms are often inconspicuous and may therefore go unnoticed.
Studies of virus diseases in tree fruit crops, grape and citrus have shown that in extreme situations causal viruses can eliminate a tree species over a very broad region. Plant viruses can alter host physiology and predisposition leading to diseased and damaged tissues or to reductions in metabolism and yield and therefore play a central role in plant health status. In contrast to other pathogens, viruses cannot be controlled by curative treatments.
A comprehensive understanding of the impact of viruses on forest tree health is therefore an important research focus, starting with their proper characterization at genome level and their association with plant stress and disease. The availability of detection protocols is also a cornerstone in the study of these viruses while a deeper understanding of their biology (host range, symptoms, transmission pathways) is required to develop appropriate prophylactic and control measures when needed to ensure a long-term economic forest stand.
We welcome articles that deal with the identification and the characterization of known and novel viruses (single or as a virome) affecting woody host species. Suitable diagnostic tools for detection of plant viruses infecting these hosts can also be reported. Emphasis is given to viruses and virus complexes that affect host species which are important in forestry or urban greens, but virus diseases and disease complexes of trees and shrub species in general will also be considered. Research reports may also focus on epidemiological issues, for instance the importance of long-lived host species as virus reservoirs, or the effects of viruses on tree health in combination with other biotic (pathobiome) and abiotic stress factors. Moreover, knowledge of viruses affecting pathogens of trees is needed. This includes plant viruses bringing benefits to their hosts. For example, knowledge of mycoviruses will provide understanding of their role in the fungal host and their potential to reduce virulence of the pathogen. Studies providing information about effects of virus infection on wood quality and yield will be of interest to the special issue as well as the report of management strategies and best practices to minimize virus diseases and prevent virus infection.
Dr. Susanne von Bargen
Prof. Dr. Carmen Büttner
Dr. Thierry Candresse
Dr. Risto Jalkanen
Prof. Dr. Sebastien Massart
Dr. Tod Ramsfield
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2000 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
- deciduous trees
- conifers
- virome
- pathobiome
- detection
- epidemiology
- viral genome
- viroids
- mycoviruses
- virus-host interaction
- metabolic impact
- management