Viruses Infecting Trees and Herbs That Produce Edible Fleshy Fruits with a Prominent Value in the Global Market: An Evolutionary Perspective

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 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.

Tolerance of plant virus disease: Its genetic, physiological, and epidemiological significance

“…Management of plant viruses by means of deploying tolerant cultivars was reviewed by Seal et al (2006) in the context of begomoviruses. Tolerance of viruses, other pathogens, and abiotic stress in fruit trees and rootstocks can be invaluable in disease management (Rodríguez‐Verástegui et al, 2022). Tolerance may provide a resilience strategy for control of Sharka disease caused by plum pox virus (PPV) (Rimbaud et al, 2015).…”

Viroscope: Plant viral diagnosis from high-throughput sequencing data using biologically-informed genome assembly coverage

“…Plant viruses are among the most important pathogens for agriculture, causing losses amounting up to more than $30 billion annually (Rao and Reddy, 2020;Rodríguez-Verástegui et al, 2022). Facile and accurate detection of plant viruses is essential to avoid propagation of these pathogens due to increasing global plant trade practices.…”

“…This is of particular concern since these pathogens may be latent or may cause detectable symptoms in susceptible rootstocks and/or scions (Umer et al, 2019). In addition, sweet cherry trees can have heterogeneous virus titrations during different seasons (Umer et al, 2019;Rodríguez-Verástegui et al, 2022).…”