Lettuce Chlorosis Virus Disease: A New Threat to Cannabis Production.

Hadad Hadad,Lachman Lachman,Smith Smith,Dombrovsky Dombrovsky,Sela Sela,Luria Luria

doi:10.3390/v11090802

Hadad Hadad, Lachman Lachman + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/v11090802

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Abstract

In a survey conducted in Cannabis sativa L. (cannabis) authorized farms in Israel, plants showed disease symptoms characteristic of nutrition deprivation. Interveinal chlorosis, brittleness, and occasional necrosis were observed in older leaves. Next generation sequencing analysis of RNA extracted from symptomatic leaves revealed the presence of lettuce chlorosis virus (LCV), a crinivirus that belongs to the Closteroviridae family. The complete viral genome sequence was obtained using RT-PCR and Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE) PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. The two LCV RNA genome segments shared 85–99% nucleotide sequence identity with LCV isolates from GenBank database. The whitefly Bemisia tabaci Middle Eastern Asia Minor1 (MEAM1) biotype transmitted the disease from symptomatic cannabis plants to un-infected ‘healthy’ cannabis, Lactuca sativa, and Catharanthus roseus plants. Shoots from symptomatic cannabis plants, used for plant propagation, constituted a primary inoculum of the disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of cannabis plant disease caused by LCV.

Highlights

Cannabis sativa L. had been used throughout the history of humankind for industrial purposes and traditional medicine worldwide [1]
The analysis showed that lettuce chlorosis virus (LCV)-Can and the other five LCV isolates are clustered in a clade with cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus (CCYV), bean yellow disorder virus (BnYDV)
We have shown by Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) analyses, complemented and validated by Reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and followed by whitefly transmission experiments that the cannabis yellowing disease was caused by the crinivirus LCV

Summary

Introduction

Cannabis sativa L. (cannabis) had been used throughout the history of humankind for industrial purposes and traditional medicine worldwide [1]. The medicinal properties of cannabis plants have been globally re-acknowledged. This was supported by studies on the cannabinoids synthesized by the plants [2] and their impact on various medical conditions [3]. Several old studies on viral diseases in cannabis cultivars were reported including the diseases caused by hemp streak virus (HSV) [10] and hemp mosaic virus (HMV) [11]. These studies lack disease cause diagnoses, which are based on serology and molecular biology [12]. The consequence of the Viruses 2019, 11, 802; doi:10.3390/v11090802 www.mdpi.com/journal/viruses

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