Combating Rose Rosette—Monitoring the Extent and Diversity of the Disease

Roses are grown worldwide for their beauty and fragrance. The flower from this woody perennial serves as the national flower to several countries, including the United States of America. In recent years, rose rosette disease (RRD) has become a problem that threatens the US rose industry and is having a detrimental impact on the use of these plants in home and commercial landscapes. Only recently, in 2011, a virus (rose rosette virus) was identified as the causal agent of this disease.  Prior to 2011, diagnosis of RRD was based on visual symptoms which are not consistent between cultivars or plantings.  Recent funding from the Specialty Crops Research Initiative program will allow for the development of a monitoring/survey program for rose rosette disease. One of the aims of the monitoring effort is to catalog symptoms and cultivar information so that potential tolerant and resistant plant materials might be discovered. The proposed collected information would also provide a better view into how this disease develops and it may shed light on the nature of the pathogen’s interaction with the rose.  To accomplish this goal, there must be a concerted effort to increase awareness and knowledge of the public and participating volunteers to rose rosette and the symptoms that it can produce. Then tools, such as a reporting app, must be developed to enable volunteers to report on the roses that they are monitoring. The success of finding a solution to rose rosette disease can begin with the participation of an educated volunteer base and a system to be able to receive and analyze submitted information.