Cassava brown streak ipomoviruses

Abstract

This chapter presents cassava brown streak ipomoviruses (CBSIs) which cause cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), the most economically important disease of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in eastern, central, and southern Africa. The CBSIs induce storage root necrosis and serious yield losses of up to 100% in susceptible cassava varieties. A pandemic of CBSD covering 10 countries in this region to date has devasted cassava along a southward and westward expansion front. This chapter highlights CBSD etiology, symptoms, and alternative hosts of the CBSIs. It also discusses CBSIs transmission, experimental host range, spread of CBSD, and disease-monitoring surveys. In this chapter, we also discuss what is known about the genome structure, virus evolution, diversity, diagnosis, and management of CBSIs. Lastly, the chapter discusses interventions on development of CBSIs-resistant cassava through conventional breeding, genomics-assisted approaches, genetic engineering, and genome editing.