Identification, Detection, and Management of Geminiviruses as Biotic Stress of Vegetable Crops

Vegetables are the largest horticultural product, contributing not only to nutritional diversity but also to farmer’s individual and national economy. Each year, numerous plant diseases cause less obvious losses all across the world. Such contagious diseases affect the aesthetic qualities of plants, including those grown in gardens, fields, or as landscape trees. Virus-borne plant illnesses are particularly essential to examine among all the documented plant diseases because there is yet no specific therapy to prevent them from spreading over frontiers. The begomoviruses, which belong to the Geminiviridae family, are most responsible for the destruction of vegetable crops. With the globalization of trade/seed movement, virus detection is becoming increasingly difficult. Previously, viruses were detected using symptoms, then by Immuno-specific Electron Microscopy (IEM) employing molecular identification of nucleic acid sequences and sero-detection that have largely superseded transmission electron microscopy (TEM). ELISA and PCR have been the most widely used methods for seed certification for the past 35 to 40 years, but LAMP, LFD, and other techniques are gaining popularity since they are as sensitive as RT-PCR. Furthermore, immuno-capture PCR (ICPCR) has emerged, which combines the benefits of both PCR and serology. Many viruses may be identified and molecularly characterized using the recently discovered immuno-precipitation (IP-PCR) technique. The detection of viruses is now being revolutionized by RNA sequencing and next-generation sequencing (NGS). In order to find unanticipated disease-associated viruses and new viruses, NGS techniques have been used in metagenomics-based approaches. For the purpose of researching how hosts react to viral infections and viral host manipulation, RNA-Seq enables the parallel collection of host plant transcriptome data. Virus control is performed by the use of healthy seed production and serological/molecular detection to prevent losses. The scope of nanotechnology is broadened by the applications of nanophyto-virology to control plant viral diseases.