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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #300424
Title: The fascinating world of berry viruses- mixed infections are the norm

Author
item Martin, Robert
item QUITO-AVILA, DIEGO - Centro De Investigacion
item Keller, Karen
item Mosier, Nola
item DIAZ-LARA, ALFREDO - Oregon State University
item SARVER, KARA - University Of New Hampshire
item Dittrich, Jake
item TZANETAKIS, IOANNIS - University Of Arkansas

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/10/2013
Publication Date: 12/2/2013
Citation: Martin, R.R., Quito-Avila, D.F., Keller, K.E., Mosier, N.J., Diaz-Lara, A., Sarver, K.E., Dittrich, J.E., Tzanetakis, I.E. 2013. The fascinating world of berry viruses- mixed infections are the norm. Abstract for: VIII Congress Biologa Vegetal, December 2-5, 2013, Pucon, Chile.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: With the application of molecular tools for characterization of viruses in berry crops, it has become clear that many diseases previously attributed to a virus are actually caused by virus complexes. As a group, berry crops including; Fragaria, Rubus and Vaccinium, are known hosts of at least 30 genera of plant viruses. These crops are propagated vegetatively and grown in nurseries and/or fruiting fields for multiple years and are often infected with virus complexes. In addition, a single ‘disease’ may be caused by multiple complexes with different viruses involved in various geographical regions. The complexity of many virus diseases in berry crops can be looked at as a positive or negative in terms of disease management. With a negative outlook one might ask, ‘How could we possibly control all these viruses, and look at it as a hopeless situation’. On the positive side one might say, ‘Since multiple viruses are necessary to get disease, which is the easiest of the viruses to control? Since virus complexes are common, we need to consider two types of control. For nurseries, virus control is important to prevent movement of viruses with propagation material. For fruit growers, disease control should be emphasized and controlling one or more viruses that are critical for disease development can often control the disease even though one or more viruses may be present in the field. Characterization of virus complexes, production of clean planting stocks and disease management will be discussed.