Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a powerful reverse genetics tool wherein the expression of a targeted gene is reduced by a viral vector in a sequence homology-dependent manner. A VIGS system using a modified Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) has been developed and successfully employed in the functional characterization of genes in monocots. There are several inherent limitations to the ...

Wheat stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a destructive disease that causes significant yield losses in wheat production worldwide, including Egypt. The use of biocontrol agents among the best eco-friendly management strategies to control this disease, as they are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than traditional chemical methods. In comparative ana...

Introduction Rust diseases of wheat are among the oldest plant diseases known to humans. Early literature on wheat cultivation mentions these devastating diseases and their ability to destroy entire wheat crops. Since rust discovery, numerous studies have been conducted on the life cycles of rust pathogens and their management. The information gained from these studies has enabled us to develop...

Byamukama, E., Wegulo, S. N., Tatineni, S., Hein, G. L., Graybosch, R. A., Baenziger, P. S., and French, R. 2014. Quantification of yield loss caused by Triticum mosaic virus and Wheat streak mosaic virus in winter wheat under field conditions. Plant Dis. 98:127-133. Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) and Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) infect winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) in the Great Plains re...

Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) is a destructive virus of cucurbits in Iran. During 2008-2012 growing seasons a total of 366 cucurbit samples including melon, cucumber, snakemelon and squash with typical symptoms of CYSDV infection were collected from ten Provinces in Iran. They were screened by ELISA and the infectivity of ELISA-positive samples was confirmed by RT-PCR. The res...

A marker-assisted background selection (MABS)-based gene introgression approach in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was optimized, where 97% or more of a recurrent parent genome (RPG) can be recovered in just two backcross (BC) generations. A four-step MABS method was developed based on 'Plabsim' computer simulations and wheat genome structure information. During empirical optimization of this meth...