Viral Elimination Strategies for Musa spp.

Abstract

Banana is one of the major crops in tropical parts of the world. The banana plant is susceptible to many diseases due to the less genetic diversity in its popular cultivars. Particularly viral diseases can severely destruct quantity and quality of the crop. Four major banana infecting viruses doing the damage- banana bunchy top virus, banana streak virus, banana bract mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virus; two other viruses- banana mild mosaic virus and banana virus X causing mild infections. Treatments are not available to remove viral infections from field crop. Banana-infecting viruses readily transmit through insect vectors and via vegetative planting materials, causing diseases in germplasm storage, their exchanges and in cultivation fields. Present account gathers information on recent viral disease outbreak reports in Musa species, about their newer isolates, vector, alternate host, etc. It further reviews viral elimination approaches used to produce virus-free planting material in banana like- in vitro culture, thermotherapy, chemotherapy, and cryo-exposure, for their effectiveness, mode of action and survival rate. In vitro viral eradication approaches those found effective on the other crops also discussed; like new antiviral drugs, electrotherapy, and combinations of various therapies that may steer to formulate future strategies to protect Musa species from viral diseases. Keywords: Banana bunchy top virus, Banana streak virus, Banana bract mosaic virus, Cucumber mosaic virus Cite this Article Vikram Singh, Vijaya Koche, Afaque Quraishi. Viral Elimination Strategies for Musa spp. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Microbiology and Virology. 2018; 8(1): 7–14p.