SUMMARYAccumulation of viruses in vegetatively propagated plants causes heavy yield losses. Therefore, supply of virus-free planting materials is pivotal to sustainable crop production. In previous studies, Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) was difficult to eradicate from raspberry ( Rubus idaeus ) using the conventional means of meristem tip culture. As shown in the present study, it was probably because this pollen-transmitted virus efficiently invades leaf primordia and all meristematic tissues except the least differentiated cells of the apical dome. Subjecting plants to thermotherapy prior to meristem tip culture heavily reduced viral RNA2, RNA3 and the coat protein in the shoot tips, but no virus-free plants were obtained. Therefore, a novel method including thermotherapy followed by cryotherapy was developed for efficient virus eradication. Heat treatment caused subcellular alterations such as enlargement of vacuoles in the more developed, virusinfected cells, which were largely eliminated following subsequent cryotherapy. Using this protocol, 20-36% of the treated shoot tips survived, 30-40% regenerated and up to 35% of the regenerated plants were virus-free, as tested by ELISA and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification. Novel cellular and molecular insights into RBDV-host interactions and the factors influencing virus eradication were obtained, including invasion of shoot tips and meristematic tissues by RBDV, enhanced viral RNA degradation and increased sensitivity to freezing caused by thermotherapy, and subcellular changes and subsequent death of cells caused by cryotherapy. This novel procedure should be helpful with many virus-host combinations in which virus eradication by conventional means has proven difficult.

Production of virus-free plants is necessary to control viral diseases, import novel cultivars from other countries, exchange breeding materials between countries or regions and preserve plant germplasm. In vitro techniques represent the most successful approaches for virus eradication. In vitro thermotherapy-based methods, including combining thermotherapy with shoot tip culture, chemotherapy, micrografting or shoot tip cryotherapy, have been successfully established for efficient eradication of various viruses from almost all of the most economically important crops. The present study reviewed recent advances in in vitro thermotherapy-based methods for virus eradication since the twenty-first century. Mechanisms as to why thermotherapy-based methods could efficiently eradicate viruses were discussed. Finally, future prospects were proposed to direct further studies.

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