title: High-Throughput Sequencing Identifies Novel Viruses in Nectarine: Insights to the Etiology of Stem-Pitting Disease.
abstract: Recent studies have shown the superiority of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology over many standard protocols for pathogen detection. HTS was initiated on fruit tree accessions from disparate sources to improve and advance virus-testing procedures. A virus with genomic features resembling most closely that of the recently described Nectarine stem-pitting-associated virus, putative member of genus Luteovirus, was found in three nectarine trees (Prunus persica cv. nectarina), each exhibiting stem-pitting symptoms on the woody cylinder above the graft union. In these samples, HTS also revealed the presence of a coinfecting virus with genome characteristics typical of members of the genus Marafivirus. The same marafivirus- and luteovirus-like viruses were detected in nonsymptomatic nectarine and peach selections, indicating only a loose relationship between these two viruses with nectarine stem-pitting disease symptoms. Two selections infected with each of these viruses had previously tested free of known virus or virus-like agents using the current biological, serological, and molecular tests employed at the Clean Plant Center Northwest. Overall, this study presents the characterization by HTS of novel marafivirus- and luteovirus-like viruses of nectarine, and provides further insights into the etiology of nectarine stem-pitting disease. The discovery of these new viruses emphasizes the ability of HTS to reveal viruses that are not detected by existing protocols.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University-Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser 99350.
authors.forename: D E V
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Villamor
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University-Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser 99350.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mekuria
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University-Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser 99350.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University-Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser 99350.
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Eastwell
mesh_terms: D016679:Genome, Viral; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D017793:Luteovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology; D000068239:Prunus persica / Q000821:virology*