Molecular Understanding and Control of Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus

Abstract

Plant viruses account for nearly half of all emerging and re-emerging plant disease endemics worldwide and cause estimated economic losses greater than US$60 billion annually, posing a major, often underappreciated, threat to global food security. Among recently emerged ones, tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV, Tobamovirus fructirugosum), a plant version of COVID-19, causes the ongoing pandemic and threatens tomato and pepper production worldwide. ToBRFV belongs to the genus Tobamovirus in the family Virgaviridae and the first presence of this new tobamovirus species was tracked to the cultivated tomato plans in the Middle East around 2015. Since its discovery, the virus has quickly spread to many tomato production countries. In response, governments, plant health organizations and the industry quickly implemented strict, multi-layered, and evolving biosecurity measures with a focus on international trade, domestic quarantine, eradication, and mandatory sanitation protocols. Unfortunately, these actions only achieved very limited success. ToBRFV is highly contagious and is transmitted via contaminated seeds and mechanical contact. In tomato, its infection usually causes 30% to 70% yield losses. The virus can break down genetic resistance to tobamoviruses conferred by all known R genes including the durable resistance gene Tm-22. The virus was first detected in Canada in 2019. In collaboration with provincial governments and grower associations, we organized a research team consisting of five labs from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and launched a multidisciplinary research program on ToBRFV. We have made great progress in better understanding ToBRFV as a pathogen and its interactions with Tm-22. We have generated novel freedom-to-operate genetic resistance, and developed attenuated strains for cross-protection against ToBRFV. I will also take this opportunity to highlight a few exciting discoveries from our two-decade’s research on plant potyviruses, particularly in the area of plant defense mechanisms and potyviral counteracting strategies.

Dr. Aiming Wang received his BSc from Yangzhou University, MSc from Nanjing Agricultural University in China, and PhD in Plant Molecular Virology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. After completing his PhD in 1999, Dr. Wang pursued post-doctoral research at the Plant Biotechnology Institute at the National Research Council of Canada. In 2003, he joined the London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) as a research scientist in genomics virology, and he was also appointed adjunct professor by Western University. Dr. Wang is widely recognized as an international leading researcher in plant virology. His research interests include the elucidation of the viral infection process and molecular virus-plant interactions, and development of genetic resistance, cross-protection (biocontrol), and other novel antiviral technologies. To date, he has published 162 peer-reviewed papers and 39 book chapters, and trained 22 graduate students and 26 post-docs/visiting professors. He is a frequent keynote and plenary speaker at international academic conferences. He has received several prestigious awards such as Queen Elisabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from Government of Canada, Golden Harvest Award from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Ruth Allen Award from the American Phytopathological Society and the Outstanding Research Award from the Canadian Phytopathological Society. Currently, he serves as a senior or academic editor for PLoS Pathogens, MPMI, and PhytoFrontier. He is also an ad hoc evaluator/reviewer for academic institutions and major funding agencies in the world. His past research was mainly concentrated on potyviruses including turnip mosaic virus, plum pox virus and soybean mosaic virus. More recently, he has focused his studies on tomato brown rugose fruit virus (Tobamovirus), a plant version of COVID-19.