Virus elimination from ornamental plants using in vitro culture techniques

Abstract

SuMMARyViruses are responsible for numerous epidemics in different crops in all parts of the world. As a consequence of their presence great economic losses are being incurred. In addition to the development of sensitive techniques for detection, identification and characterization of viruses, substantial attention has also been paid to biotechnological methods for their elimination from plants. In this review article, the following biotechnological in vitro culture techniques for virus elimination from ornamental plants are presented: meristem culture, thermotherapy, chemotherapy, cryotherapy or a combination of these methods. The plant species, as well as the type of virus determine the choice of a most suitable method. The state of the art in investigation of virus elimination from Impatiens sp. in Serbia is summarized.

Anatomy Features of Lavandula Angustifolia Mill. and Lavandula Hybrida Rev. Plants in Vitro

“…However, the problem of viral pathogens damages in collection plots and industrial plantings hinders vegetative propagation, and as a result, reduces possibility of promising lavender cultivars large-scale cultivation. Nowadays, producing of high-quality virus-free planting material identical to the parent plants is provided with biotechnological methods of plant cleaning up and micropropagation (Milošević et al, 2012;. Bhojwani & Dantu, 2013;Mitrofanova et al, 2014.…”

Cleaning cassava genotypes infected with cassava frogskin disease via in vitro shoot tip culture

“…As cassava is a vegetatively propagated plant, the accumulation of phytoplasma and/or virus in cuttings is recurrent, resulting in losses in root yield that can reach 90% (Alvarez et al, 2009) and, in extreme cases, 100% (Oliveira EJ, unpublished results). An important strategy to control CFSD in infected plants is to clean these materials via meristem culture, thermotherapy, antibiotics, cryotherapy, and micrografting (Milošević et al, 2012). According to Panattoni et al (2013), thermotherapy has been the most commonly applied technique in cleaning protocols for plants infected by systemic disease induced by viruses belonging to 13 families since 1991, being the use of treatments in association the most reliable strategy.…”

“…The cultivation of the infected plants at high temperatures significantly reduces virus replication by interrupting nucleic acid synthesis, and the same occurs with other systemic pathogens, such as phytoplasma. However, the optimal temperature for inhibiting this replication is highly variable in different pathogens, although thermotherapy combined with meristem culture may improve the efficiency of pathogen elimination (Milošević et al, 2012). Moreover, chemotherapy with the use of ribavirin, ditiouracil, tetracycline, cefotaxime, and erythromycin in association with the cultivation of meristems and apex shoots and in combination with thermotherapy has also been promising for the elimination of pathogens (Nascimento et al, 2003;Panattoni et al, 2007Panattoni et al, , 2013.…”

“…To Milošević et al (2012), the pathogen distribution in apexes may vary depending on the host-pathogen interaction in regard to infection degree making it necessary to investigate the appropriate explant size to completely eliminate the pathogen and not interfere with the plant regeneration. There are reports in the literature on the use of meristem or shoot tips that are 0.2 to 0.7 mm long for pathogen eradication (Singh et al, 2007;Panattoni et al, 2013;Mwangangi et al, 2014).…”

“…The success of explant in vitro cultures in culture medium with antiviral substances and antibiotics has been reported in several papers (Gribaudo et al, 2007;Singh et al, 2007;Mwangangi et al, 2014). Milošević et al (2012) emphasize that virus elimination is most effective when different techniques (meristem culture, thermotherapy, cryotherapy, and chemotherapy) are used jointly. Therefore, a combination of cleaning techniques may constitute an efficient alternative for the disposal of CFSD-infected cassava plants, since the etiology of this disease has not been fully confirmed.…”