Many scientists, if not all, feel that their particular plant virus should appear in any list of the most important plant viruses. However, to our knowledge, no such list exists. The aim of this review was to survey all plant virologists with an association with Molecular Plant Pathology and ask them to nominate which plant viruses they would place in a 'Top 10' based on scientific/economic importance. The survey generated more than 250 votes from the international community, and allowed the generation of a Top 10 plant virus list for Molecular Plant Pathology. The Top 10 list includes, in rank order, (1) Tobacco mosaic virus, (2) Tomato spotted wilt virus, (3) Tomato yellow leaf curl virus, (4) Cucumber mosaic virus, (5) Potato virus Y, (6) Cauliflower mosaic virus, (7) African cassava mosaic virus, (8) Plum pox virus, (9) Brome mosaic virus and (10) Potato virus X, with honourable mentions for viruses just missing out on the Top 10, including Citrus tristeza virus, Barley yellow dwarf virus, Potato leafroll virus and Tomato bushy stunt virus. This review article presents a short review on each virus of the Top 10 list and its importance, with the intent of initiating discussion and debate amongst the plant virology community, as well as laying down a benchmark, as it will be interesting to see in future years how perceptions change and which viruses enter and leave the Top 10.

SbId-1 and SbCa-1, respectively) was studied by modeling of X-ray diffraction patterns recorded under controlled relative humidity (RH) for Sr-and/or Ca-saturated specimens. The influence of layer charge and charge location on smectite hydration was studied. Distribution of layers with different hydration states (dehydrated -0W, monohydrated -1W, bi-hydrated -2W, or tri-hydrated -3W) within smectite crystals often leads to two distinct contributions to the X-ray diffraction pattern, each contribution having different layer types randomly interstratified. Structure models are more heterogeneous for beidellite than for montmorillonite. For beidellite, two distinct populations of particles with different coherent scattering domain sizes account for the heterogeneity. Increased hydration heterogeneity in beidellite originates also from the presence of 0W (non-expandable) and of 1W layers under high relative humidity (RH) conditions. Similarly, after ethylene-glycol (EG) solvation, some beidellite layers incorporate only one plane of EG molecules whereas homogeneous swelling was observed for montmorillonite with the systematic presence of two planes of EG molecules.For montmorillonite and beidellite, the increase of layer charge shifts the 2W-to-1W and the 1W-to-0W transitions towards lower RH values. For all samples, layer thickness of 0W, 1W, and 2W layer types was similar to that determined for low-charge SWy-1 montmorillonite (Source Clay SWy-1), and no change of layer thickness was observed as a function of the amount or of the location of layer charge. Layer thickness however increased with increasing RH conditions.

Plant viruses have evolved a wide array of strategies to ensure efficient transfer from one host to the next. Any organism feeding on infected plants and traveling between plants can potentially act as a virus transport device. Such organisms, designated vectors, are found among parasitic fungi, root nematodes and plant-feeding arthropods, particularly insects. Due to their extremely specialized feeding behavior -exploring and sampling all plant tissues, from the epidermis to the phloem and xylem -aphids are by far the most important vectors, transmitting nearly 30% of all plant virus species described to date. Several different interaction patterns have evolved between viruses and aphid vectors and, over the past century, a tremendous number of studies have provided details of the underlying mechanisms. This article presents an overview of the different types of virusaphid relationships, state-of-the-art knowledge of the molecular processes underlying these interactions, and the remaining black boxes waiting to be opened in the near future.

Au sein des études menées par l'ANDRA pour caractériser le Callovo-Oxfordien, la chimie de l'eau interstitielle constitue une thématique clé car elle détermine le devenir dans le temps des matériaux introduit sur les sites de stockage (bentonite, béton, métaux, colis de verre). Elle détermine aussi la spéciation (et donc la mobilité) des radionucléides. La méthode développée dans le cadre du projet THERMOAR permet l'acquisition d'un jeu complet de données pour modéliser la chimie des eaux à partir de carottes de roche. Elle nécessite une étude minéralogique approfondie, un modèle de répartition eau libre/eau liée, des expériences de lessivage, des mesures des ions adsorbés, l'acquisition de constantes d'échange d'ions, la mesure des pressions partielles en CO 2. L'ensemble de ces expériences et mesures a été appliqué à des échantillons provenant du site du laboratoire Meuse/Haute-Marne et des forages régionaux de l'ANDRA. On observe ainsi la stabilité régionale d'un grand nombre de paramètres à l'exception d'une diminution de teneur en Na et Cl suivant un axe nord-est / sud-ouest passant par le laboratoire. Le modèle d'équilibre eau/roche permet de calculer la composition chimique des eaux interstitielle de la formation.

Many plant epidemics that cause major economic losses cannot be controlled with pesticides. Among them, sharka epidemics severely affect prunus trees worldwide. Its causal agent, Plum pox virus (PPV; genus Potyvirus), has been classified as a quarantine pathogen in numerous countries. As a result, various management strategies have been implemented in different regions of the world, depending on the epidemiological context and on the objective (i.e., eradication, suppression, containment, or resilience). These strategies have exploited virus-free planting material, varietal improvement, surveillance and removal of trees in orchards, and statistical models. Variations on these management options lead to contrasted outcomes, from successful eradication to widespread presence of PPV in orchards. Here, we present management strategies in the light of sharka epidemiology to gain insights from this worldwide experience. Although focused on sharka, this review highlights more general levers and promising approaches to optimize disease control in perennial plants.

Viral molecular determinant(s) involved in the tobacco vein necrosis (TVN) symptom induced by necrotic isolates of Potato virus Y (PVY) on Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi leaves remain undetermined. Reference isolates belonging to PVYN (infectious PVYN-605 clone) and PVYO (PVYO-139) were used to produce PVY chimeric genomes by using reverse-genetic techniques. These chimeric clones were inoculated biolistically onto Nicotiana clevelandii plants to establish the clone, prior to being tested on N. tabacum for their ability to induce TVN symptoms. Comparison between sequence data and symptoms observed for each mutated PVY construct shows that the C-terminal part of the multifunctional HC-Pro protein includes two residues (K400 and E419) that are involved in TVN induced by PVYN isolates. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to confirm that these two HC-Pro residues are involved in the TVN phenotype.

The open reading frame (ORF) III product (PIII) of cauliflower mosaic virus is necessary for the infection cycle but its role is poorly understood. We have used in vitro protein binding ('far Western') assays to demonstrate that PIII interacts with the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) ORF II product (PII), a known aphid transmission factor. Aphid transmission of purified virions of the PII-defective strain CM4-184 was dependent upon added PII, but complementation was efficient only in the presence of PIII, demonstrating the requirement of PIII for transmission. Deletion mutagenesis mapped the interaction domains of PIII and PII to the 30 N-terminal and 61 C-terminal residues of PIII and PII, respectively. A model for interaction between PIII and PII is proposed on the basis of secondary structure predictions. Finally, a direct correlation between the ability of PIII and PII to interact and aphid transmissibility of the virus was demonstrated by using mutagenized PIII proteins. Taken together, these data argue strongly that PIII is a second 'helper' factor required for CaMV transmission by aphids.

The Nc(tbr) and Ny(tbr) genes in Solanum tuberosum determine hypersensitive reactions, characterized by necrotic reactions and restriction of the virus systemic movement, toward isolates belonging to clade C and clade O of Potato virus Y (PVY), respectively. We describe a new resistance from S. sparsipilum which possesses the same phenotype and specificity as Nc(tbr) and is controlled by a dominant gene designated Nc(spl). Nc(spl) maps on potato chromosome IV close or allelic to Ny(tbr). The helper component proteinase (HC-Pro) cistron of PVY was shown to control necrotic reactions and resistance elicitation in plants carrying Nc(spl), Nc(tbr), and Ny(tbr). However, inductions of necrosis and of resistance to the systemic virus movement in plants carrying Nc(spl) reside in different regions of the HC-Pro cistron. Also, genomic determinants outside the HC-Pro cistron are involved in the systemic movement of PVY after induction of necroses on inoculated leaves of plants carrying Ny(tbr). These results suggest that the Ny(tbr) resistance may have been involved in the recent emergence of PVY isolates with a recombination breakpoint near the junction of HC-Pro and P3 cistrons in potato crops. Therefore, this emergence could constitute one of the rare examples of resistance breakdown by a virus which was caused by recombination instead of by successive accumulation of nucleotide substitutions.