Abstract
The knowledge of genomic data of new plant viruses is increasing exponentially; however, some aspects of their biology, such as vectors and host range, remain mostly unknown. This information is crucial for the understanding of virus–plant interactions, control strategies, and mechanisms to prevent outbreaks. Typically, rhabdoviruses infect monocot and dicot plants and are vectored in nature by hemipteran sap-sucking insects, including aphids, leafhoppers, and planthoppers. However, several strains of a potentially whitefly-transmitted virus, papaya cytorhabdovirus, were recently described: (i) bean-associated cytorhabdovirus (BaCV) in Brazil, (ii) papaya virus E (PpVE) in Ecuador, and (iii) citrus-associated rhabdovirus (CiaRV) in China. Here, we examine the potential of the Bemisia tabaci Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) to transmit BaCV, its morphological and cytopathological characteristics, and assess the incidence of BaCV across bean producing areas in Brazil. Our results show that BaCV is efficiently transmitted, in experimental conditions, by B. tabaci MEAM1 to bean cultivars, and with lower efficiency to cowpea and soybean. Moreover, we detected BaCV RNA in viruliferous whiteflies but we were unable to visualize viral particles or viroplasm in the whitefly tissues. BaCV could not be singly isolated for pathogenicity tests, identification of the induced symptoms, and the transmission assay. BaCV was detected in five out of the seven states in Brazil included in our study, suggesting that it is widely distributed throughout bean producing areas in the country. This is the first report of a whitefly-transmitted rhabdovirus.
Highlights
Rhabdoviruses are a group of negative-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses that infect plants, vertebrate animals, and invertebrate animals
bean-associated cytorhabdovirus (BaCV) was identified for the first time in Brazil in 2014 in bean plants collected in Santo Antônio de Goiás, Goiás State (GO) [32]
The first 15 bean plants received from the farmers were screened by PCR or RT-PCR for the presence of the whitefly-borne viruses BGMV, MaYSV, and CPMMV in addition to BRMV, and the new cytorhabdovirus BaCV (Figure S1)
Summary
Rhabdoviruses (family Rhabdoviridae) are a group of negative-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses that infect plants, vertebrate animals, and invertebrate animals. They cause harmful diseases in humans and animals and can cause high yield losses in crops. Plant-infecting rhabdoviruses are currently taxonomically assigned to six genera [1]. Members of the Dichorhavirus genus have a bi-segmented genome, infect di- and monocotyledonous plants, and are transmitted by Brevipalpus mites. Viruses belonging to the Varicosavirus genus have a bi-segmented genome, infect plants of the Compositae and Solanaceae families, and are transmitted by zoospores of the fungus Olpidium brassicae. No information on vectors and transmission characteristics is available for most of these viruses [5]
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