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Viruses
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Citrus Viral Diseases: Advances in Knowledge and Technologies and Their...
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Citrus Viral Diseases: Advances in Knowledge and Technologies and Their Containment Measures

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Viruses of Plants, Fungi and Protozoa".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 538

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Antonino F. Catara

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Phytosanitary Sciences, University of Catania, and Science and Technology Park of Sicily, Catania, Italy
Interests: Citrus dwarfing viroid; exocortis; Citrus tristeza virus; cross protection; impietratura; Citrus yellow vein clearing virus
Prof. Dr. Salvatore Davino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Science, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: citrus impietratura agent; Citrus tristeza virus; Citrus exocortis viroid; hop stunt viroid; smart diagnosis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Moshe Bar-Joseph

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The S. Talkowski Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Research, The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel
Interests: citrus and subtropical tree pathology; virus control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Citrus represents one of the most relevant fruit crops worldwide. They are expanded in countries located in tropical and subtropical areas, with suitable soils and climates and a reliable supply of good-quality water. With an estimated global production of 166 million tons, citrus represents one of the most important commercial fruit crops, both fresh and concentrated, and they play a significant role in the economies of several countries.

As with other fruit crops with a long history of vegetative propagation, citrus production has been continuously affected by a range of citrus viruses and virus-like agents that at times have nearly decimated global production.

The challenges posed by the complex abovementioned situation underscore the importance and the intensity of research towards new and innovative technologies that can effectively address new challenges in the current global landscape to prevent and control viruses and virus-like diseases to obtain healthy and disease-free citrus groves.

Regarding the advancement of knowledge, we hope that this Special Issue will play a relevant role in the exchange of knowledge and understanding among researchers and stakeholders on new/old diseases causing symptoms in new/old scion/rootstock combinations depending on the composition of the different viral population, the synergism between two or more pathogens in the same host, the citrus species affected, and the environmental conditions.

The present Special Issue aims to comprise reports on recent research, covering a wide range of topics, including the following:

  • Genomic characterization of recently discovered citrus viruses;
  • Advances in rapid and sensitive diagnostics of citrus viruses and viroids;
  • Application of citrus viruses as vectors for genetic manipulation;
  • Recent advances in virus–insect interactions that facilitate the natural spread of certain citrus viruses;
  • Advances in prevention and mitigation strategies;
  • Interaction of viral and virus-like pathogens of citrus.

Prof. Antonino F. Catara
Prof. Dr. Salvatore Davino
Prof. Dr. Moshe Bar-Joseph
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. Viruses 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 2600 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

  • citrus viruses
  • genomic characterization
  • diagnostics
  • vector
  • virus–insect interactions
  • viral and virus-like pathogens

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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17 pages, 256 KiB  
Opinion
On the Trail of the Longest Plant RNA Virus: Citrus Tristeza Virus
by Moshe Bar-Joseph
Viruses 2025, 17(4), 508; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17040508 - 31 Mar 2025
Viewed by 371
Abstract
The devastating tristeza epidemic swept through South American citrus groves in the 1930s and subsequently spread to most citrus-growing regions worldwide, causing varying degrees of damage and prompting significant changes in citrus cultivation practices. The causal agent of the disease, citrus tristeza virus [...] Read more.
The devastating tristeza epidemic swept through South American citrus groves in the 1930s and subsequently spread to most citrus-growing regions worldwide, causing varying degrees of damage and prompting significant changes in citrus cultivation practices. The causal agent of the disease, citrus tristeza virus (CTV), belongs to the genus Closterovirus in the family Closteroviridae. CTV virions are approximately two microns long and possess the largest known positive-strand RNA genome in plants, spanning 19.3 kb. The history of tristeza disease and CTV’s molecular biology and taxonomic relationships have been extensively reviewed in the scientific literature. This paper primarily focuses on the author’s personal experiences with tristeza disease and its causal agent over the past six decades. The journey began during a period when biological indexing was the primary diagnostic tool. It later progressed through the isolation of purified CTV particles, which served as a practical diagnostic tool for CTV suppression efforts in Israel during the 1970s. However, biological indexing was first replaced by electron microscopy, followed by ELISA procedures; both were eventually abandoned after it was discovered that many ELISA-positive infections were caused by symptomless CTV isolates, even on trees grafted onto sour orange rootstocks. In retrospect, my work on CTV can be categorized into three main phases. It began with the biological phase, inherited from earlier generations of citrus virologists, followed by the isolation and partial characterization of CTV virions, and culminated in the genomic era. While we live in an age of remarkable biotechnological achievements, my recommendation for future CTV research is to integrate both biological and genomic approaches rather than viewing them as mutually exclusive. This is particularly important for economically significant pathogens such as CTV, which should be studied continuously as both biological agents and molecular pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Citrus Viral Diseases: Advances in Knowledge and Technologies and Their Containment Measures)
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