Research Projects

Yellow mosaic disease (YMD) is a major viral disease in ridgegourd, affecting all genotypes in public domain and commercial seed industries. It is caused by the Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), which has an incidence of 30-100% and limits yield and quality losses in both agricultural and horticultural crops. Whiteflies are designated as natural insect vectors for virus transmission under field conditions, but recent reports in Israel indicate that ToLCNDV is known to transmit through seeds, causing significant negative impacts on production systems. Firms conducted in Southern India found the presence of seed-borne viruses in 60-80% of tested samples, with ToLCNDV and Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) being the major seed-borne viruses detected. Genetics of resistance in ridgegourd genotypes and advanced breeding lines showed tolerance reactions, indicating that ToLCNDV is detected as seed-borne transmission in Ridgegourd and other cucurbits. The movement of infected seeds in the supply chain is a hidden threat for farmers and global crop production systems and seed industries. The current proposal focuses on developing advanced diagnostic procedures for immediate detection of seed-borne viruses, understanding diversity analysis of the pathogen, and investigating mechanisms of virus transmission through seeds using Next Generation Sequencing platforms. This will help catalog up-regulated and down-regulated genes during the infection and transmission process, ultimately preventing the spread of the disease.