Projects / Programmes
Discovery and water-linked epidemiology of emergent tobamoviruses infecting crops
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 4.03.00 |
Biotechnical sciences |
Plant production |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 4.01 |
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences |
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries |
tobamoviruses, irrigation water, epidemiology, reliable detection
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 26, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
Data for ARIS tenders (
04.04.2019 – Programme tender,
archive
)
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
258 |
11,191 |
10,270 |
39.81 |
| Scopus |
278 |
12,368 |
11,345 |
40.81 |
Researchers (17)
Organisations (3)
Abstract
Diseases caused by emerging viruses have become more and more important over the last few decades in terms of their incidence and economic impact. Currently, the most economically important emerging virus is the tobamovirus tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), which emerged in Israel around 2014. Since then, outbreaks of ToBRFV have occurred around the world, including recent outbreaks in several European countries. This endangers tomato and pepper production, the main host plants for ToBRFV. The same crops can be severely infected also by other emerging tobamoviruses, such as tomato mottle mosaic virus (ToMMV), which was first described in 2013 in Mexico, and was subsequently found in the Americas, Asia and Europe. The physical and biological properties of tobamoviruses allow their rapid spread and provide them with high epidemic potential, which as a consequence, can have significant impact on agriculture. Therefore, a search for yet unknown tobamoviruses in different plant species and in different environmental sample matrices will provide us with valuable information before the emergence of such species as crop pathogens. This is included in the proposed project, in the form of a meta-analysis of a large set of already published sequence datasets, and it will enable quicker development of tests and better understanding of possible origin points of the viruses in question. This latter will also help us to better understand the possible future spread of such viruses in crops, and consequently provide us with better means for containment of their spread. The most important accepted introduction route of tobamoviruses into new countries and regions is by infested seeds and infected planting materials. Tobamoviruses are particularly stable, and after their introduction into a new region, they can be easily spread to other plants via mechanical transmission. For ToBRFV, it has already been confirmed that it can survive for long periods of time on different surfaces, and that it is environmentally stable. Furthermore, once ToBRFV enters its plant objective, it is difficult to eradicate using existing disinfection techniques. ToBRFV RNA has been detected in some water samples; however, as its survival in water has not been studied yet, including the efficiency of its transmission through irrigation water to plants, this will be studied within the proposed project. This knowledge is needed for the definition of its complex epidemiology and for risk assessment studies to be carried out to reveal the critical points for monitoring and control. Similar studies to fill in the gaps in the understanding of the epidemiology of ToMMV and other potentially important (re)emerging tobamoviruses will also be conducted within proposed project. The crucial step towards successful control of emerging tobamoviruses and prevention of their further spread is accurate and timely detection of the virus. Several molecular tests for detection and identification of ToBRFV in plant materials and seeds are available, but none of these have been validated with the purpose of their use in monitoring of irrigation waters. Moreover, such tests are in high demand for other emerging tobamoviruses; e.g., ToMMV. In this project, significant effort will be directed towards the development of reliable diagnostic procedures (for both laboratory and on-site testing) to monitor emergent tobamoviruses in irrigation waters. The experienced research team will ensure the success of the project in terms of the water-linked epidemiology and diagnosis of recently emerged tobamoviruses, and the discovery of potentially new emergent tobamoviruses. This will lead to better plant protection, which is indispensable to catch up with the frequent emergence of new species and the rapid spread of these pathogens because of climate change and the rapid movement of plants and plant products through trade activities.
