Control of mosaic disease using microbial biostimulants: insights from mathematical modelling

Abstract

A major challenge to successful crop production comes from viral diseases of plants that cause significant crop losses, threatening global food security and the livelihoods of countries that rely on those crops for their staple foods or source of income. One example of such diseases is a mosaic disease of plants, which is caused by begomoviruses and is spread to plants by whitefly. In order to mitigate negative impact of mosaic disease, several different strategies have been employed over the years, including roguing/replanting of plants, as well as using pesticides, which have recently been shown to be potentially dangerous to the environment and humans. In this paper we derive and analyse a mathematical model for control of mosaic disease using natural microbial biostimulants that, besides improving plant growth, protect plants against infection through a mechanism of RNA interference. By analysing the stability of the system's steady states, we will show how properties of biostimulants affect disease dynamics, and in particular, how they determine whether the mosaic disease is eradicated or is rather maintained at some steady level. We will also present the results of numerical simulations that illustrate the behaviour of the model in different dynamical regimes, and discuss biological implications of theoretical results for the practical purpose of control of mosaic disease.

Effects of Organic Biostimulants Added with Zeolite on Zucchini Squash Plants Infected by Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus

“…Only single natural compounds have been observed to have a direct antiviral action, such as glucosylceramides and trichothecenes against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and pepper mottle virus (PepMoV), respectively [ 31 , 32 ]. Such activity has not been reported for complex mixtures so far, and possible applications of biostimulants in virus control are still at a theoretical stage [ 30 , 33 , 34 ]. In this work, the antiviral activity of commercially available biostimulants was tested against ToLCNDV in experimental conditions, and the possible beneficial effects on the fitness of infected zucchini plants were evaluated.…”

A delayed plant disease model with Caputo fractional derivatives

“…In plant epidemiology, a number of deathly diseases or viruses have been observed, which are becoming very harmful for our plants. In the mathematical point of view, some models have been analyzed to study the dynamics of these diseases like mosaic disease [ 41 ], huanglongbing virus transmission within a citrus tree [ 42 ], Xylella fastidiosa epidemic in olive trees [ 43 ], etc. In this paper, we adopt a mathematical delay model proposed by Basir et al [ 40 ] for defining the structure of vector-borne plant disease.…”

Virus Diseases of Cereal and Oilseed Crops in Australia: Current Position and Future Challenges

“…Moreover, speed breeding [62], and genetic modification using RNA silencing and CRISPR-Cas hold considerable promise for rapidly breeding virus-resistant crop cultivars [63]. Furthermore, exogenous delivery of dsRNA [64], nanotechnology [65] and biostimulants [66] applied post emergence have the potential to help reduce the spread and impact of virus diseases. However, for these technological innovations to be optimized, they need to be integrated with a good understanding of how epidemics develop, and the other factors involved, especially the cultural and climatic factors, and be adapted to each cropping situation [32,53,61].…”