ABSTRACT
Peanut rosette disease (PRD) complex occurs as two symptom variants, chlorotic rosette and green rosette, with considerable variation within each type. PRD, first reported in 1907 from Tanganyika, is endemic in peanut-growing areas of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including its offshore islands such as Madagascar; it is limited to peanut crop and the African continent. There is no evidence of PRD occurrence anywhere outside Africa. PRD usually occurs in small proportions every growing season, but its severity increases in groundnut crops sown late in the season. When epidemics do occur, peanut production is significantly reduced, and the disease has the potential to cripple rural economies in SSA. Various diagnostic techniques based on biological, serological, and genomic properties of the PRD agents have been developed. PRD can be diagnosed in the field based on the characteristic symptoms on peanut.
