Millet Could Be both a Weed and Serve as a Virus Reservoir in Crop Fields

Viromes of Plants Determined by High-Throughput Sequencing of Virus-Derived siRNAs

Plants growing in open airfields can be infected by several viruses even as a multiple infection. Virus infection in crops can lead to a serious damage to the harvest. In addition, virus presence in grapevine, fruit trees, and tuberous vegetables, propagated vegetatively affects the phytosanitary status of the propagation material (both the rootstock and the variety) having profound effect on the lifetime and health of the new plantations. The fast evolution of sequencing techniques provides a new opportunity for metagenomics-based viral diagnostics. Small interfering (si) RNAs produced by the RNA silencing-based host immune system during viral infection can be sequenced by high-throughput techniques and analyzed for the presence of viruses, revealing the presence of all known viral pathogens in the sample and therefore opening new avenues in virus diagnostics. This method is based on Illumina sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of virus-derived siRNAs in the host. Here we describe a protocol for this challenging technique step by step with notes, to ensure success for every user.

Construction and use of an infectious cDNA clone to identify aphid vectors and susceptible monocot hosts of the polerovirus barley virus G

Since its discovery in 2016, the Polerovirus Barley virus G has been reported in at least nine countries and multiple species of monocot plants. All of these reports have used PCR and/or sequencing based assays to identify BVG, however none have investigated the biology of BVG. In this study we detail the generation of the first infectious cDNA clone of BVG from archived RNA, thereby producing a valuable experimental tool and system for studying BVG biology. Using this system we identified two compatible aphid vectors and confirmed the susceptibility of several monocot plants, and the dicotyledonous plant host Nicotiana benthamiana, to BVG.