A view on urdbean leaf crinkle virus and its management

Abstract

Urdbean (Vigna mungo L. Hepper) is comparatively more vulnerable to leaf crinkle disease than other pulses. Urdbean leaf crinkle disease (ULCD) is a widespread and devastating disease of economic significance resulting in extreme crinkling, puckering, curling and roughness of leaves, malformation of floral organs and stunting of plants. The ULCD causes substantial yield losses annually in major urban-producing countries around the world. Aphids, insects, and whiteflies have been identified as disease vectors. The virus is also transmitted via inoculation, grafting, and seed sap. The seed yield loss in ULCD-affected Urdbean crops ranges from 35%-81%, which depends on the genotype, location type and time of infection. The diseased material and favorable climatic conditions lead to a widespread viral illness. In germplasm screening, genetic variations have been reported indicating continuous screening of available varieties and new germplasm to identify new traits (different genes) and new sources of disease resistance. Reports on breeding programs for the production and release of ULCD tolerant varieties are very limited. There are various RNA viruses, which evolved strategies to counter the silencing process by encoding suppressor proteins. However, in the case of ULCV, there is no report available indicating which protection pathway operates in the plants for its resistance and whether this virus causing leaf crinkle disease in Urdbean also follows the same silencing suppression strategy.  This review provides an overview of different aspects of Urdbean leaf crinkle virus.