Viromes of Hungarian Peach Trees Identified by High-Throughput Sequencing of Small RNAs

Abstract

Peach trees can be infected with viruses and viroids. As we do not have efficient plant protection methods against these pathogens, the prevention of infection is crucial. Fruit trees are maintained by vegetative propagation. Planting material such as certified mother trees and rootstocks should be free from viruses and viroids, and this status has to be regularly checked to prevent infections. We surveyed certified peach trees for the presence of viruses and viroids using small RNA high-throughput sequencing (HTS), an unbiased virus diagnostic method. The results of the bioinformatic analysis of HTS were validated by other molecular methods including RT-PCR, Northern blot hybridization and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). We found the presence of plum pox virus and peach latent mosaic viroid (PLMVd) in the vector-free isolator houses, whose presence should be regularly tested. Moreover, we detected frequent infection with recently described viruses such as nectarine stem pitting-associated virus and peach-associated luteovirus (PaLV). During the survey, PLMVd and PaLV were detected for the first time in Hungary. The analysis of the presenting virus variants and possible sources of infection suggests that the source of the viral infection could be the infected propagating material. Our study emphasizes the importance of using sensitive and trustworthy diagnostic techniques to be able to detect viral infections and successfully prevent their spread by propagation material.

Clematis vitalba Is a Natural Host of the Novel Ilarvirus, Prunus Virus I

“…Peach and sweet cherry cultivars were sampled in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The peach trees (89 individuals) representing 34 cultivars were kept under an insect proof net and were the same plants whose viromes were characterized recently [ 20 ]. The sweet cherry trees (106 trees, representing 32 cultivars) were grown in the same location (Érd, around Budapest) at open field.…”

The Expanding Menagerie of Prunus-Infecting Luteoviruses

“…Later, ChALV was characterized in P. avium and P. cerasus from the Czech Republic (Lenz et al 2017). Peach-associated luteovirus (PaLV) was initially described in the USA from peach material imported from Georgia and Spain (Wu et al 2017) and has since been reported, again from peach, in China, South Korea, Italy, and Hungary (Barath et al 2022;Igori et al 2017b;Sorrentino et al 2018;Zhou et al 2018).…”