Next-Generation Virus Diagnostic Technologies and Host Resistance in Fruit and Vegetable Crops

Viral diseases remain one of the most damaging and hardest-to-manage threats to fruit and vegetable production worldwide, causing significant yield losses and threatening food security as global demand for fresh produce grows. Unlike field crops, fruit and vegetable systems often involve vegetative propagation, mixed cropping, and international trade in planting material — conditions that accelerate virus spread and make early, accurate detection essential to any control strategy.

This Research Topic focuses on two connected fronts in the fight against viral disease in fruit and vegetable crops: the development and deployment of next-generation diagnostic technologies, and the identification and application of host resistance mechanisms specific to these crop systems. We welcome contributions that address the practical challenges of virus detection and management in horticultural production — from portable and field-deployable diagnostic tools to resistance breeding and screening approaches tailored to fruit and vegetable species.

We invite submissions covering, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Portable, point-of-care, and field-deployable diagnostic platforms for virus detection in fruit and vegetable crops
- Comparative evaluation of diagnostic technologies for horticultural virus surveillance and certification programs
- Identification and characterization of natural or induced host resistance to viruses in fruit and vegetable species
- Resistance screening methodologies and breeding strategies specific to vegetatively propagated or high-value horticultural crops
- Integration of diagnostics with resistance deployment in disease management programs for fruit and vegetable production
- Case studies on virus surveillance and resistance management in seed and planting material certification schemes

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: next-generation virus diagnostics, plant virus detection, host resistance, fruit crop viruses, vegetable crop viruses, point-of-care diagnostics, virus resistance breeding, plant virus surveillance, horticultural crop protection, viral disease management

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.