A comprehensive review on in vitro therapies for virus elimination and novel methods for virus protection in key horticultural crops.

This review examines the impact of viable in vitro methods and novel strategies on virus elimination in key horticultural crops. Virus diseases are a major threat to economically important horticultural crops, leading to severe financial losses for farmers due to the lack of effective management strategies. Therefore, there is an urgent need for disseminating comprehensive knowledge on viable strategies available to mitigate adverse impacts. This review provides an overview of the effectiveness of conventional in vitro techniques on virus elimination, including meristem culture, chemotherapy, thermotherapy, cryotherapy, electrotherapy, and their combinations. It also explores the significance of innovative methods for the development of transgenic varieties through gene transformation, CRISPR-Cas9 system and RNA interference techniques. Conventional techniques can effectively utilize virus-infected plant material for the production of virus-free plantlets, while novel approaches include the use of biotechnological tools for the development of resistant cultivars. It outlines the results obtained from the application of various in vitro methods in different horticultural crops. This also highlights the factors determining the success rate of various therapies such as meristem size, antiviral chemical concentrations, optimal temperature requirements, effective cryotherapy protocols and the necessary electrical supply for viral strains across various cultivars of crop plants. The virus elimination rates of these in vitro approaches ranged from 50 to 100%, depending on the specific virus, host crop involved, and the technique applied. Additionally, the review examines the development of transgenic resistant cultivars in response to specific viruses infecting important crops. The summarized results on virus elimination offer valuable insights about the strategies used to counteract the emerging viral strains that threaten the integrity of horticultural crop production.