International Trade and Local Effects of Viral and Bacterial Diseases in Ornamental Plants

Abstract

Since the 1950s, there have been major changes in the scope, value, and organization of the ornamental plant industry. With fewer individual producers and a strong trend toward consolidation and globalization, increasing quantities of diverse plant genera and species are being shipped internationally. Many more ornamentals are propagated vegetatively instead of by seed, further contributing to disease spread. These factors have led to global movement of pathogens to countries where they were not formerly known. The emergence of some previously undescribed pathogens has been facilitated by high-throughput sequencing, but biological studies are often lacking, so their roles in economic diseases are not yet known. Case studies of diseases in selected ornamentals discuss the factors involved in their spread, control measures to reduce their economic impact, and show some potential effects on agronomic crops. Advances in diagnostic techniques are discussed, and parallels are drawn to the international movement of human diseases. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Phytopathology, Volume 61 is September 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Co-Infection of Tobacco Rattle and Cycas Necrotic Stunt Viruses in Paeonia lactiflora: Detection Strategies, Potential Origins of Infection, and Implications for Paeonia Germplasm Conservation

“…Herbaceous peonies are perennial crops of significant ornamental and medicinal value [ 4 , 5 , 6 ] that are mainly propagated vegetatively, and are thus susceptible to the scenario above. However, there is limited information on peony viral pathogens’ control, their transmission, and their distribution at local and global scales [ 7 ].…”