Abstract
The concept of plant as a holobiont is now spreading among the scientific community and the importance to study plant-associated microorganisms is becoming more and more necessary. Along with bacteria and fungi, also viruses can play important roles during the holobiont-environment interactions. In grapevine, viruses are studied mainly as pathological agents, and many species (more than 80) are known to be able to replicate inside its tissues. In this study two new viral species associated with grape wood tissues are presented, one belongs to the Potyviridae family and one to the Bunyavirales order. Due to the ability of potyviruses to enhance heterologous virus replication, it will be important to assess the presence of such a virus in the grapevine population to understand its ecological role. Furthermore, the association of the cogu-like virus with esca symptomatic samples opens new questions and the necessity of a more detailed characterization of this virus.
Highlights
Grapevine is one of the most important cultivated crops in Europe and studies on its genetic variability were performed to understand varietal characteristics, unveiling only a small part of the complex biodiversity observed within these species [1]
The present virome analysis performed on the metagenomics samples of 6 libraries from grapevine wood tissue (3 esca asymptomatic and 3 esca symptomatic) retrieved over 150 contigs carrying RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP)
Potyviruses are a large and agriculturally important group of plant viruses which can lead to severe losses in crop quality and yield, as in the case of Potato virus Y (PVY), Plum pox virus (PPV), Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) or Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) [32]
Summary
Grapevine is one of the most important cultivated crops in Europe and studies on its genetic variability were performed to understand varietal characteristics, unveiling only a small part of the complex biodiversity observed within these species [1]. A further layer of biodiversity is contemplated when considering grapevine as an ecological unit formed by plant together with the strictly associated microorganisms, defined as the holobiont. Vitis spp. host one of the largest number of viruses among cultivated crop species, which is probably linked to a very long history of domestication and coexistence, an extensive exchange of germplasm on a global scale and the vegetative propagation [8]. The effects of some viral diseases on grapevine yield and quality are defined as severe, inducing extensive modulation in physiological performances
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