Development of the molecular methods for potato virus and viroid detection and prevention

Potato is the fourth most important food crop in the world and it forms the diet of a billion consumers in developing countries, where potato production is increasing rapidly. However, potato virus diseases in developing countries are one of the major causes of lower yields. Their control requires the development of appropriate virus-detection and seed-production technologies for the region. Recent progress in developing nucleic acid based virus detection methods are reviewed. Refinements of the protocols applicable to the laboratories located in seed producing areas are discussed. Nucleic acid spot hybridization (NASH) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods are described for the detection of viruses and viroids in dormant seed tubers and insect vectors. Although the potato crop is susceptible to over 25 virus and viroid diseases, only universally economically important viruses have been dealt with here. The progress of pathogen-derived resistance for the control of potato virus diseases is elaborated, and the results of field tests indicate their feasibility in virus control.