Genetic Diversity of Groundnut Rosette Disease Causal Agents Towards Its Management: A Review

In this review, the genetic diversity of the three causal agents of Groundnut Rosette Disease (GRD) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are discussed. Epidemics of GRD viruses in SSA, often reduce groundnut productivity. The etiology of GRD is a complex, involving three agents; Groundnut rosette assistor luteovirus (GRAV), Groundnut rosette umbravirus (GRV) and a Satellite-RNA (Sat-RNA) of GRV. The complex etiology and lack of sensitive and specific diagnostic tools, are major limitations in understanding the epidemiology of GRD viruses, and developing appropriate management strategies for the disease. Nucleotide identity of 97 to 100% among GRAV isolates from different regions in Kenya have been reported. Sat-RNA sequences from Kenya shared nucleotide identity of 95% with Malawian isolate (M24S) and 89% with Nigerian isolate (NG3a). GRAV CP gene was highly conserved (97-99%) regardless of the geographical distance. However, for GRV and Sat-RNA diversity increased with increase in geographical distance. In addition, phylogenetic analysis showed that isolates of GRV (ORF3 and 4) and Sat-RNA clustered together depending on the country of origin. Recent study has unveiled a chlorotic variant of Sat-RNA in Kenya with 97% sequence identity to the Malawian chlorotic isolate (M24S). Pathogen derived resistance (PDR) suitable for each diverse regions where the disease occurs is a promising management strategy which mainly depends in studies to deeply understand the genetic diversity of the three GRD causal agents. Currently, GRAV-CP is the best candidate for PDR