Investigations into the "off type" of blueberry - HeiNo

Blueberry is a high-value crop that is cultivated in Germany on approx. 3000 ha. In recent years, blueberry plants with an untypical growth behavior have been noticed more and more frequently in plantations. This so-called "off type" has developed into a problem that is threatening the existence of the farmers due to dramatic yield losses. The disease is mainly characterized by stunted growth, leaf reddening and reduced fruit set with smaller fruits. Numerous attempts to clarify the cause were unsuccessful. Initial investigations into the viral status at DSMZ applying our in-house high throughput sequencing (Illumina HTS) infrastructure have led to the identification of two novel viruses in diseased plants, a mitovirus and a luteovirus, the latter of which may well be involved in disease expression. In order to secure blueberry cultivation, further investigations are absolutely necessary and are underway in a project which started in April 2023, funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Innovationsprogramm BMEL - FKZ: 281D124C21).