Economically Important Viruses in African Crops
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 October 2025 | Viewed by 114
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant-virus; cassava
Interests: plant virus; cassava; virus resistance
Interests: plant viruses; cassava
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Viruses continue to adversely impact crops in sub-Saharan Africa causing diseases that devastate crop production and leave millions of people at risk of food insecurity. Viral diseases in sub-Saharan Africa affect root and tuber crops including cassava, banana and plantains, sweet potato, potato, and yams. The damaging effects of viral diseases also reduce the productivity of key legumes such as beans and cowpeas and horticultural crops like tomatoes and peppers. In maize, lethal necrosis continues to cause widespread damage to Africa’s most important cereal crop while there still is no resistance to protect rice from the damaging rice yellow mottle virus. There is a considerable production in several African countries of fruits, including passionfruit and tamarillo, vegetables, including chili and okra, and ornamental plants (cut flowers, vegetative propagules and entire plants) for export and those are affected by plant viruses as well carrying the risk of transboundary virus spread. Fruit trees, including cacao are prone to severe virus attacks and for cacao, cause critical shortages of raw product for the chocolate industry.
This Special Issue published in the Viruses Journal and aims to provide a one-stop platform for the latest breakthroughs and innovations that address the rapidly evolving challenges of crop viruses in Africa. There is no particular restriction to the themes allowed for individual papers, and submissions will be welcome on all aspects of major crop viruses in Africa, including molecular biology, epidemiology, host and vector interactions, crop loss and impact, as well as host plant resistance, management tactics and strategies. We would be delighted to receive your manuscript on your current research (interest) related to our subject by the end of October 2025 or, a notification of intent. A rolling publication approach is anticipated, so articles submitted early will be published as soon as they have successfully passed the review process. All papers will be independently peer reviewed.
Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues or anyone you believe would be interested in contributing to this Special Issue.
We look forward to working together with you on this endeavour
Dr. James Peter Legg
Dr. Stephen Winter
Dr. Rudolph Rufini Shirima
Dr. Samar Sheat
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- economically important viruses
- african crops
- cassava
- banana
- potato
- yams
- beans
- cowpeas
- maize
- cacao
- tomatoes
- peppers
- rice yellow mottle virus
- chili
- okra
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