Protecting crops from non-persistently aphid-transmitted viruses: A review on the use of barrier plants as a management tool

Barrier plants are a management tool based on secondary plants used within or bordering a primary crop for the purpose of disease control. Aphid-transmitted viruses account for approximately 50% of the 600 known viruses with an invertebrate vector. Barrier plants may act as real natural sinks for non-persistent aphid-transmitted viruses and have proved in the past to be an effective crop management strategy to protect against virus infection. Increasing the knowledge on aphid host seeking and flying behaviour, and on how barrier plants may affect the behaviour of aphids and their natural enemies will allow further development of this environmentally-friendly habitat manipulation strategy. An ideal plant barrier should be a non-host for the virus and the vector, but appealing to aphid landing and attractive to their natural enemies and should allow sufficient residence time to allow aphid probing before taking-off occurs. In this review, we have addressed why aphids are manageable by barrier cropping, the mechanisms by which barrier plants affect the occurrence of non-persistently aphid-transmitted viruses and the limitations of using barrier plants as a virus control strategy. Finally, we have pointed out future directions of research that should be conducted to integrate barrier cropping with other disease management strategies, and optimise and extend the use of barrier plants as a strategy for managing aphid-transmitted virus diseases.