The Effect of Virus Infections on Fruit

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 4463

Special Issue Editors

Universidade do Algarve, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Interests: plant molecular virology (woody plants); virus–host interactions; profiling of virus-mediated host genetic responses
Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária
Interests: plant virology (Nepoviruses and Closteroviridae of the grapevine); virus–nematode interactions; viral detection in grapevine and horticultural and ornamental species

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fruits are a very important part of agricultural economy worldwide, be they from woody or herbaceous species. Plant viral diseases, which impact fruit production as well as organoleptic and other characteristics, affect economic profits from a crop either because of reduced yields or because of the cost involved in agricultural activities undertaken to reduce its damage. Of course, the type and amount of losses caused by viral infections on fruit will vary with the plant, location, environment, and agricultural practices involved.

The virus or virus-like diseases of fruit crops have a lingering impact that not only affects the yield of the crop for several years but also the time and costs of installing, bringing the plants to production, removing the affected plants, repurposing soil infested with a viral vector, and also the loss of income from other crops that could have been planted instead.

Moreover, virus-associated losses in fields and orchards are highly underestimated, as some viral infections are asymptomatic when alone but are known to contribute in a synergic manner to damages when combined with other pathogens.

Since no curative treatments of virus infections are available, and viral diseases are very difficult to control in the field, prophylactic control measures are therefore crucial in combating epidemics on crops. Those are at present a combination of raising the awareness of farmers and growers, legislation-mediated implementation of sanitation measures, reviewing the cultural practices and organism–vector management, etc., all underpinned by the contribution of research.

This Special Issue of Plants is aimed at compiling both research and review papers, providing an insight into the latest research on the effect of virus infections on all types of fruits, to highlight key advances and outcomes. To this end, we welcome papers related to:

i) Understanding viral agents’ interaction with their hosts that bring about reduced fruit yield and quality;

ii) Improvement of detection methods for different plant parts (seeds or fruit stones, grafts, rootstocks, seedlings, flowers) suitable to inform policy makers and international legislations concerning worldwide trade of virus-free plant material;

iii) Identification of new viral agents and viral synergies;

iv) Economic losses in fruit production.

Dr. Filomena Fonseca
Dr. Margarida Thierstein Romão Duarte Teixeira Santos
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. 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–virus interaction
  • viral agents
  • virus taxonomy
  • viral genome
  • biological features
  • disease control
  • new generation technological approaches
  • new viruses

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

45 pages, 2611 KiB  
Review
Viruses Infecting Trees and Herbs That Produce Edible Fleshy Fruits with a Prominent Value in the Global Market: An Evolutionary Perspective
by Lizette Liliana Rodríguez-Verástegui, Candy Yuriria Ramírez-Zavaleta, María Fernanda Capilla-Hernández and Josefat Gregorio-Jorge
Plants 2022, 11(2), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11020203 - 13 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3868
Abstract
Trees and herbs that produce fruits represent the most valuable agricultural food commodities in the world. However, the yield of these crops is not fully achieved due to biotic factors such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Viruses are capable of causing alterations in [...] Read more.
Trees and herbs that produce fruits represent the most valuable agricultural food commodities in the world. However, the yield of these crops is not fully achieved due to biotic factors such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Viruses are capable of causing alterations in plant growth and development, thereby impacting the yield of their hosts significantly. In this work, we first compiled the world′s most comprehensive list of known edible fruits that fits our definition. Then, plant viruses infecting those trees and herbs that produce fruits with commercial importance in the global market were identified. The identified plant viruses belong to 30 families, most of them containing single-stranded RNA genomes. Importantly, we show the overall picture of the host range for some virus families following an evolutionary approach. Further, the current knowledge about plant-virus interactions, focusing on the main disorders they cause, as well as yield losses, is summarized. Additionally, since accurate diagnosis methods are of pivotal importance for viral diseases control, the current and emerging technologies for the detection of these plant pathogens are described. Finally, the most promising strategies employed to control viral diseases in the field are presented, focusing on solutions that are long-lasting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effect of Virus Infections on Fruit)
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