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Maize Lethal Necrosis disease: review of molecular and genetic resistance mechanisms, socio-economic impacts, and mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa

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Title Maize Lethal Necrosis disease: review of molecular and genetic resistance mechanisms, socio-economic impacts, and mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa
 
Creator Biswal, Akshaya Kumar
Alakonya, Amos
Mottaleb, Khondoker Abdul
Hearne, Sarah Jane
Sonder, Kai
Molnar, Terence Luke
Jones, Alan M.
Pixley, Kevin Vail
Boddupalli, P.M.
 
Subject drought stress
gene editing
maize
necrosis
potyvirus
quantitative trait loci
 
Description Background: Maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease is a significant constraint for maize producers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The disease decimates the maize crop, in some cases, causing total crop failure with far-reaching impacts on regional food security. Results: In this review, we analyze the impacts of MLN in Africa, finding that resource-poor farmers and consumers are the most vulnerable populations. We examine the molecular mechanism of MLN virus transmission, role of vectors and host plant resistance identifying a range of potential opportunities for genetic and phytosanitary interventions to control MLN. We discuss the likely exacerbating effects of climate change on the MLN menace and describe a sobering example of negative genetic association between tolerance to heat/drought and susceptibility to viral infection. We also review role of microRNAs in host plant response to MLN causing viruses as well as heat/drought stress that can be carefully engineered to develop resistant varieties using novel molecular techniques. Conclusions: With the dual drivers of increased crop loss due to MLN and increased demand of maize for food, the development and deployment of simple and safe technologies, like resistant cultivars developed through accelerated breeding or emerging gene editing technologies, will have substantial positive impact on livelihoods in the region. We have summarized the available genetic resources and identified a few large-effect QTLs that can be further exploited to accelerate conversion of existing farmer-preferred varieties into resistant cultivars.
 
Date 2022-11-23
2023-01-04T12:01:44Z
2023-01-04T12:01:44Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Biswal, A. K., Alakonya, A. E., Mottaleb, K. A., Hearne, S. J., Sonder, K., Molnar, T. L., Jones, A. M., Pixley, K. V., & Prasanna, B. M. (2022). Maize Lethal Necrosis disease: Review of molecular and genetic resistance mechanisms, socio-economic impacts, and mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. BMC Plant Biology, 22(1), 542. https://hdl.handle.net/10883/22293
1471-2229
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126546
https://hdl.handle.net/10883/22293
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-022-03932-y
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
Open Access
 
Format application/pdf
 
Publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
 
Source BMC Plant Biology