Peanut Bud Necrosis Disease: An Overview

Peanut bud necrosis disease (PBND) was first recorded in India in 1949. The economic importance of the disease was realized during the late 1960s when incidences up to 100% were recorded in many groundnut-growing regions in India. The disease has been described under different names. It was shown to be economically important in parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. Although it was earlier reported to be caused by tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), recently, the causal virus of PBND in India was shown to be a serologically distinct tospovirus, now referred to as peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV), transmitted by Thrips palmi. Surveysin many groundnut-growing countries indicate that PBNV is restricted to South and Southeast Asia. Several cultural practices are available to control the disease. Excellent progress has been made in the identification of sources of field resistance. The PBNV genome contains three RNA species and the sRNA has recently been sequenced and the two genes it codes for have been identified. Progress achieved will lead to the production of high quality diagnostic aids and for the development of transgenic resistance. Future research will focus on epidemiology, development of early-maturingresistant cultivars, sequencing of the entire viral genome, the production of high quality diagnostic aids, and assessment of biodiversity among PBNV isolates