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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Plant Genetic Resources and Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #399622
Research Project: Management, Characterization, and Evaluation of Pacific Tropical and Subtropical Fruit and Nut Genetic Resources and Associated Information

Location: Tropical Plant Genetic Resources and Disease Research

Title: First detection and genome characterization of a new RNA virus, Hibiscus betacarmovirus, and a new DNA virus, Hibiscus soymovirus, naturally infecting Hibiscus spp. in Hawaii

Author
item WANG, XUPENG - University Of Hawaii
item LARREA-SARMIENTO, ADRIANA - University Of Hawaii
item OLMEDO-VELARDE, ALEJANDRO - University Of Hawaii
item KONG, ALEXANDRA - University Of Hawaii
item BORTH, WAYNE - University Of Hawaii
item Suzuki, Jon
item Wall, Marisa
item MELZER, MICHAEL - University Of Hawaii
item HU, JOHN - University Of Hawaii

Submitted to: Viruses
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/28/2022
Publication Date: 12/29/2022
Citation: Wang, X., Larrea-Sarmiento, A., Olmedo-Velarde, A., Kong, A., Borth, W., Suzuki, J.Y., Wall, M.M., Melzer, M., Hu, J. 2022. First detection and genome characterization of a new RNA virus, Hibiscus betacarmovirus, and a new DNA virus, Hibiscus soymovirus, naturally infecting Hibiscus spp. in Hawaii. Viruses. 15(1). Article 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15010090.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v15010090

Interpretive Summary: Modern sequencing methods were used to identify the presence of two new viruses from Hibiscus leaves exhibiting disease-like discoloration collected in 2020 on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. By sequence comparison of their complete genomes, one was determined to be a new RNA virus similar to hibiscus chlorotic ringspot virus (genus Betacarmovirus), while the second is a new DNA virus similar to peanut chlorotic streak virus (genus Soymovirus). The proposed names for these putative new RNA and DNA viruses are Hibiscus betacarmovirus, and Hibiscus soymovirus, respectively. Methods were developed to detect the presence of these viruses by PCR to enable monitoring of the prevalence of these viruses and disease in Hibiscus.

Technical Abstract: Hibiscus (Hibiscus spp., family Malvaceae) leaves exhibiting symptoms of mosaic, ringspot, and chlorotic spots were collected in 2020 on Oahu, HI. High-throughput sequencing analysis was conducted on ribosomal RNA-depleted composite RNA samples extracted from symptomatic leaves. About 77 million paired-end reads and 161,970 contigs were generated after quality control, trimming, and de novo assembly. Contig annotation with BLASTX/BLASTN searches revealed a sequence (contig 1) resembling the RNA virus, hibiscus chlorotic ringspot virus (genus Betacarmovirus), and one (contig 2) resembling the DNA virus, peanut chlorotic streak virus (genus Soymovirus). Further bioinformatic analyses of the complete viral genome sequences indicated that these viruses, with proposed names of hibiscus betacarmovirus and hibiscus soymovirus, putatively represent new species in the genera Betacarmovirus and Soymovirus, respectively. RT-PCR using specific primers, designed based on the retrieved contigs, coupled with Sanger sequencing, further confirmed the presence of these viruses. An additional 54 hibiscus leaf samples from other locations on Oahu were examined to determine the incidence and distribution of these viruses.