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Review
. 2023 Oct 20;12(20):3633.
doi: 10.3390/plants12203633.

The Past, Present, and Future of Wheat Dwarf Virus Management-A Review

Anne-Kathrin Pfrieme  1 , Torsten Will  1 , Klaus Pillen  2 , Andreas Stahl  1
Affiliations
Review

The Past, Present, and Future of Wheat Dwarf Virus Management-A Review

Anne-Kathrin Pfrieme et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Wheat dwarf disease (WDD) is an important disease of monocotyledonous species, including economically important cereals. The causative pathogen, wheat dwarf virus (WDV), is persistently transmitted mainly by the leafhopper Psammotettix alienus and can lead to high yield losses. Due to climate change, the periods of vector activity increased, and the vectors have spread to new habitats, leading to an increased importance of WDV in large parts of Europe. In the light of integrated pest management, cultivation practices and the use of resistant/tolerant host plants are currently the only effective methods to control WDV. However, knowledge of the pathosystem and epidemiology of WDD is limited, and the few known sources of genetic tolerance indicate that further research is needed. Considering the economic importance of WDD and its likely increasing relevance in the coming decades, this study provides a comprehensive compilation of knowledge on the most important aspects with information on the causal virus, its vector, symptoms, host range, and control strategies. In addition, the current status of genetic and breeding efforts to control and manage this disease in wheat will be discussed, as this is crucial to effectively manage the disease under changing environmental conditions and minimize impending yield losses.

Keywords: Geminiviridae; mastrevirus; resistance; resistance breeding; resistance genes; wheat dwarf virus (WDV).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Classification and genomic organization of wheat dwarf virus (WDV): (a) classification of the family Geminiviridae is based on their molecular and biological characteristics. WDV species belong to the mastreviruses and consist of the main strains of wheat and barley, to which the various isolates are subordinated in clades. The percentage of nucleotide similarity is given for the species, strains, and clades. WDV Bar [TR] refers to the recombinant isolate between a barley isolate and a yet unknown member of the mastreviruses. (b) Genomic organization of mastreviruses, which include wheat dwarf virus (WDV). These have a circular ssDNA genome (black circle) and four ORFs. Code of viral proteins: MP—movement protein, CP—capsid protein, RepA—replication-associated protein, Rep—replication initiation protein. Also shown are the non-coding regions of the large intergenic region (LIR) and small intergenic region (SIR).
Figure 2
Figure 2
World map with countries where WDV could be detected (marked in red). WDV was reported in Ukraine [131], Romania [13], Bulgaria [131], Hungary [131], Italy [118], France [47], Sweden [20], Poland [132], Finland [18], Spain [133], the United Kingdom [108], Austria [108] and Slovenia [134], as well as regions in Iran [135], the Middle East (Turkey [109], Africa (Tunisia [120] and Zambia [136]), West Asia (Syria [137], and China [138,139]) [140].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Eight-week-old wheat plants with different degrees (symptom scoring 1, 2, 5, 6, 8) of dwarfing in the greenhouse depending on their genotype (a) and at BBCH stage 30–39 in May 2021 under field conditions (b) after artificial inoculation with symptom-bearing in the middle of the image. (c) Leaves of WDV-infected plants (left) show a stripe-like lightening compared to healthy leaves (right), which later develops into yellowing.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic representation of the life cycle of winter cereals and Psammotettix alienus. The major developmental stages of host cereal plants (from sowing to harvest) are represented by the outer circle. The successive and overlapping biological cycles of P. alienus are represented by arrows in the inner circle. Under optimal conditions (20 °C, 70–95% relative humidity, 18/6 light/dark hours), the life cycle length (from egg to adult death) is 71 days [195]. Eggs produced in the fall overwinter on cereals and hatch in the following growing season (the next spring). According to Manurung et al. [12], the duration of the five larval stages (L1 to L5) is 5.9, 5.1, 5.6, 3, and 9.4 days, respectively. The seven-day-old adults can mate to produce the next generation of insects [12].
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Grants and funding

This research was funded by German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the German Rentenbank grant number FKZ: 28RZ4IP029.

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