Wheat dwarf

BGPI : équipe 6Cereals can be infected by a vast range of pathogens of which Wheat dwarf virus (WDV, family Geminiviridae, genus Mastrevirus), the aetiological agent of wheat dwarf disease (WDD), is one of the most damaging of all. This chapter presents an overview of WDD, its causal agent, leafhopper vectors, diagnostic methods and available management strategies. Research carried out on wheat dwarf during the last three decades has allowed for the description of the main characteristics of the pathogens and vectors involved in WDD. However, the epidemiology of WDD is more complex than initially proposed with: (i) the presence of strains, recombinants and distinct viral species, all capable of inducing WDD; (ii) the complex taxonomy of the vector(s), Psammotettix spp.; and (iii) the contradictory reports on WDV host range. Moreover, new wheat dwarf-like virus variants, including emerging recombinants, presumably exist in reservoirs and/or cultivated crops. The routine use of the latest developed WDV-specific tools in epidemiological studies carried out in the field and cereal-growing areas will improve knowledge on the sanitary status of cultivated hosts and leafhopper vectors