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Review
. 2021 Oct 14;10(10):2172.
doi: 10.3390/plants10102172.

Known and New Emerging Viruses Infecting Blueberry

Norsazilawati Saad  1   2 , James W Olmstead  3 , Jeffrey B Jones  1 , Arvind Varsani  4   5 , Philip F Harmon  1
Affiliations
Review

Known and New Emerging Viruses Infecting Blueberry

Norsazilawati Saad et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) plants are exposed to existing and emerging viruses as a result of expanding acreage of blueberry plantations across the world, primarily in North America. Since blueberry is cultivated in areas where there are wild Vaccinium spp., there is increasing risk of virus movement between wild and cultivated blueberries. This is theoretically possible because viruses can spread from commercial cultivars to native species and vice versa causing the spread of existing and new viruses. The occurrence of these viruses in blueberry can be devastating to the industry considering the cost for cultivation and production of this perennial crop. However, the advent of high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic sequence analysis have allowed for rapid identification of known and novel viruses in any crop including blueberry, thus facilitating proper intervention in response to serious viral diseases. In this paper, we aim to focus on the current status of known and novel viruses emerging in blueberry worldwide, which may impact the blueberry industry.

Keywords: Vaccinium; blueberry; viruses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cultivated blueberry plant in a farm in Florida showing Blueberry necrotic ring blotch virus (BNRBV) symptomatic leaves with necrotic rings with green cores.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Blueberry leaf showing red line and ring patterns typical of virus symptoms (Photo courtesy Philip Harmon, University of Florida).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Symptoms of BRRV on leaves and stem of blueberry plants. (A) Red blotches on blueberry leaves. (B) Red ring spots on stem. (Photo courtesy Philip Harmon, University of Florida).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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