Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Disease and Pest Management Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #393778
Research Project: Development of Knowledge-based Approaches for Disease Management in Small Fruit and Nursery Crops

Location: Horticultural Crops Disease and Pest Management Research Unit

Title: Genome characterization and pathogenicity of two new hyptis pectinata viruses transmitted by distinct insect vectors

Author
item REYES-PROANO, EDISON - Centro De Investigaciones Biotecnologicas Del Ecuador
item ALRAREZ-QUINTO, ROBERT - Oregon State University
item DELGADO-JIMENEZ, JOSE - Centro De Investigaciones Biotecnologicas Del Ecuador
item CORNEJO-FRNACO, FRANCO - Centro De Investigaciones Biotecnologicas Del Ecuador
item Mollov, Dimitre
item BEJERMAN, NICOLAS - Instituto Nacional De Tecnologia Agropecuaria
item QUITO-AVILA, DIEGO - Centro De Investigaciones Biotecnologicas Del Ecuador

Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/9/2022
Publication Date: 11/27/2022
Citation: Reyes-Proano, E., Alrarez-Quinto, R., Delgado-Jimenez, J., Cornejo-Frnaco, F., Mollov, D.S., Bejerman, N., Quito-Avila, D. 2022. Genome characterization and pathogenicity of two new hyptis pectinata viruses transmitted by distinct insect vectors. Phytopathology. vol 112, no 11, pages 2440-2448. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-04-22-0130-R.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-04-22-0130-R

Interpretive Summary: Hyptis is a perennial herbaceous tropical plant that grows in agricultural and landscape settings as a weed and can be found from Florida to Brazil. Symptomatic Hyptis plants were observed in dry forest in Ecuador. Symptomatic weeds can be a reservoir for diseases that could infect commercial crops. In this study we analyzed these symptomatic plants and identified two new viruses infecting this plant. The genome organization and the mode of transmission was also determined. One of the viruses was successfully transmitted by aphids and the other by whiteflies. Additionally, with the genomic data we have designed detection protocols that can be used to monitor the spread of these viruses and whether they can infect other crops. Identifying the vectors transmitting these new viruses can be used in devising better management strategies if these viruses are posing threat to horticultural or agricultural crops.

Technical Abstract: Two new viruses belonging to distinct families, Rhabdoviridae and Geminiviridae, were discovered co-infecting Hyptis pectinata from a tropical dry forest of Ecuador. The negative-sense RNA genome of the rhabdovirus, tentatively named Hyptis latent virus (HpLV), comprises 13,765 nucleotides with seven open reading frames (ORFs) separated by the conserved intergenic region 3’-AAUUAUUUUGAU-5’. Sequence analyses showed identities as high as 56% for the polymerase, and 38% for the nucleocapsid, to members of the genus Cytorhabdovirus. Efficient transmission of HpLV was mediated by the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) in a persistent replicative manner. The single-stranded DNA genome of the virus tentatively named Hyptis golden mosaic virus (HpGMV), shared homology with members of the genus Begomovirus with bipartite genomes. The DNA-A component consists of 2,716 nt, whereas the DNA-B component contains 2,666 nt. Pairwise alignments using the complete genomic sequence of DNA-A of HpGMV and closest relatives showed identities below the cutoff (<91% shared nt) established by the ICTV as species demarcation, indicating that HpGMV is a distinct begomovirus. Transmission experiments confirmed that the whitefly Bemisia tabaci is the vector of HpGMV.