Review Article VIRUSES OF STRAWBERRY AND PRODUCTION OF VIRUS FREE PLANTING MATERIAL- A CRITICAL REVIEW Abhilasha Sharma 1* , Anil Handa 1 , Shelly Kapoor 2 , Santosh Watpade 3 , Bhupesh Gupta 1 and Praveen Verma 2 1 Department of Plant Pathology, 2 Department of Biotechnology, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan- 173 230 (HP) 3 ICAR- IARI Regional Station, Shimla- 171 004 (HP) E-mail: abhilashasharma094@gmail.com (*Corresponding Author) Abstract: Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duchesne) is a member of the Rosaceae family. Among all soft berries like brambles, strawberry and currants, strawberries are the most favourite soft berry fruits of the temperate world. Many viruses are involved and they can act to produce symptoms which vary according to the virus species involved, the relative proportions of each, the environmental conditions and the response of the particular host variety. There are about seven aphid transmitted viruses infecting strawberry in nature. These include strawberry crinkle virus (SCV), strawberry mottle virus (SMoV), strawberry vein bending virus (SVBV), strawberry pseudo mild yellow edge virus (SPMYEV), strawberry chlorotic fleck virus (SCFV) and strawberry latent c virus (SLCV). The virus diseases are the most prominent limiting factor in the production of certified virus- free planting material of strawberry. Key to success for achieving this goal lies in the development of a sound certification scheme that has the aim of providing strawberry plants which are true-to-type, free from virus diseases and substantially free from other pests. Keywords: Strawberry, viruses, serology, molecular detection, certification. Introduction Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duchesne) is a member of the Rosaceae family. The fleshy fruit of strawberry is classified as an aggregate fruit (Green, 1971). The cultivated strawberry is a hybrid of two Native American species, North American Fragaria X chiloensis and South American Fragaria x virginiana (Hancock et al 1999). Among all soft berries like brambles, strawberry and currants, strawberries are the most favourite soft berry fruits of the temperate world with its origin in Europe around 1750. The Fragaria x ananassa is a perennial soft berry which arises from a crown of meristematic tissues. The most popular cultivated strawberry is the dessert strawberry, Fragaria× ananassa. Annual world production of this species has steadily grown through the ages with quantities doubling in the last 20 years to over 2.5 million tonnes (FAO, 2016). Many viruses are involved and they can act to produce symptoms which vary according to the virus species involved, the relative International Journal of Science, Environment ISSN 2278-3687 (O) and Technology, Vol. 7, No 2, 2018, 521 – 545 2277-663X (P) Received Feb 22, 2018 * Published April 2, 2018 * www.ijset.net