Project Number: 5358-22000-033-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Feb 26, 2007
End Date: Feb 26, 2012

Objective:
The long term objectives of this project are to identify causal agents, develop diagnostic assays, identify virus vectors and develop management strategies for controlling virus diseases of small fruit crops. Control strategies will range from improving certification programs with better diagnostics, managing vectors and virus sources, and working with breeders to identify resistant germplasm and cultivars as well as developing resistance using pathogen derived approaches. The priority of diseases to be addressed is determined by their economic impact for growers or processors of these fruits.

Approach:
DsRNA analysis will be used to: 1. Look for viruses in new diseases of small fruit crops as a way to initially determine if a virus(es) is present in symptomatic plants; 2. Re-examine known diseases to look for the presence of additional viruses that may have been overlooked using bioassays and electron microscopy; and 3. Determine if mixed infections are responsible for symptom variation in a single cultivar in different growing areas. Native plants and agricultural crops can serve as important inoculum for viruses studied in this project. Native vegetation and weeds in and adjacent to fields with virus infections will be tested for the presence of the viruses being studied using the tests developed in subobjective 1a and those already available. We will use standard molecular biology techniques to develop full length clones of the three RNAs of RBDV and test them for infectivity after generating RNA in various transcription systems. Replacing 5358-22000-023-00D (1/03). Replacing 5358-22000-028-00D (1/07).