Analysis of Interactions Between Cassava Brown Streak Disease Symptom Types Facilitates the Determination of Varietal Responses and Yield Losses.

Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), caused by cassava brown streak viruses, is recognized as one of the most important plant disease threats to African food security. This study describes the incidence and severity of the different symptom types caused by CBSD, derived from extensive surveys in the country most severely affected by the disease: Tanzania. Total plant incidence and mean root severity of CBSD, recorded from 341 farmers' fields, were both greater in the Coast Zone (49.5% and 3.05), than in the Lake Zone (32.7% and 2.57). Overall, the differing incidences recorded declined in the following order: total plant incidence (39.1%), plant shoot incidence (33.4%), plant root incidence (19.3%), root incidence (10.5%), and unusable root incidence (5.4%). The much lower-than-anticipated loss due to the root necrosis that is characteristic of CBSD was offset by large reductions of root number in plants expressing foliar symptoms of CBSD (15.7% in the Coast Zone and 5.5% in the Lake Zone). These data suggest that the effects of CBSD on the growth of affected plants are greater than those due to root spoilage. Based on these two factors, annual losses due to CBSD in the parts of Tanzania surveyed were estimated at >860,000 t, equivalent to more than U.S.$51 million. A novel approach to using farm-derived data on the responses of the most frequently cultivated varieties to CBSD infection allowed the grouping of the varieties into four categories, based on their relative resistance or tolerance to infection. This tool should be of value to breeders in identifying and selecting for sources of resistance or tolerance in both local and exotic germplasm, and should ultimately contribute to enhancing the management of one of Africa's most damaging crop diseases.

The Dynamics and Environmental Influence on Interactions Between Cassava Brown Streak Disease and the Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci.

Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) is currently the most significant virus disease phenomenon affecting African agriculture. In this study, we report results from the most extensive set of field data so far presented for CBSD in Africa. From assessments of 515 farmers' plantings of cassava, incidence in the Coastal Zone of Tanzania (46.5% of plants; 87% of fields affected) was higher than in the Lake Zone (22%; 34%), but incidences for both zones were greater than previous published records. The whitefly vector, Bemisia tabaci, was more abundant in the Lake Zone than the Coastal Zone, the reverse of the situation reported previously, and increased B. tabaci abundance is driving CBSD spread in the Lake Zone. The altitudinal "ceiling" previously thought to restrict the occurrence of CBSD to regions <1,000 masl has been broken as a consequence of the greatly increased abundance of B. tabaci in mid-altitude areas. Among environmental variables analyzed, minimum temperature was the strongest determinant of CBSD incidence. B. tabaci in the Coastal and Lake Zones responded differently to environmental variables examined, highlighting the biological differences between B. tabaci genotypes occurring in these regions and the superior adaptation of B. tabaci in the Great Lakes region both to cassava and low temperature conditions. Regression analyses using multi-country data sets could be used to determine the potential environmental limits of CBSD. Approaches such as this offer potential for use in the development of predictive models for CBSD, which could strengthen country- and continent-level CBSD pandemic mitigation strategies.

Comparing the regional epidemiology of the cassava mosaic and cassava brown streak virus pandemics in Africa.

The rapid geographical expansion of the cassava mosaic disease (CMD) pandemic, caused by cassava mosaic geminiviruses, has devastated cassava crops in 12 countries of East and Central Africa since the late 1980s. Region-level surveys have revealed a continuing pattern of annual spread westward and southward along a contiguous 'front'. More recently, outbreaks of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) were reported from Uganda and other parts of East Africa that had been hitherto unaffected by the disease. Recent survey data reveal several significant contrasts between the regional epidemiology of these two pandemics: (i) severe CMD radiates out from an initial centre of origin, whilst CBSD seems to be spreading from independent 'hot-spots'; (ii) the severe CMD pandemic has arisen from recombination and synergy between virus species, whilst the CBSD pandemic seems to be a 'new encounter' situation between host and pathogen; (iii) CMD pandemic spread has been tightly linked with the appearance of super-abundant Bemisia tabaci whitefly vector populations, in contrast to CBSD, where outbreaks have occurred 3-12 years after whitefly population increases; (iv) the CMGs causing CMD are transmitted in a persistent manner, whilst the two cassava brown streak viruses appear to be semi-persistently transmitted; and (v) different patterns of symptom expression mean that phytosanitary measures could be implemented easily for CMD but have limited effectiveness, whereas similar measures are difficult to apply for CBSD but are potentially very effective. An important similarity between the pandemics is that the viruses occurring in pandemic-affected areas are also found elsewhere, indicating that contrary to earlier published conclusions, the viruses per se are unlikely to be the key factors driving the two pandemics. A diagrammatic representation illustrates the temporal relationship between B. tabaci abundance and changing incidences of both CMD and CBSD in the Great Lakes region. This emphasizes the pivotal role played by the vector in both pandemics and the urgent need to identify effective and sustainable strategies for controlling whiteflies on cassava.