Study finds viruses can help host bacteria survive in man-made environments
Viruses in man-made environments cause public health concerns, but they are generally less studied than bacteria. A recent study led by environmental scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) provided the first evidence of frequent interactions between viruses and bacteria in man-made environments. They found that viruses can potentially help host bacteria adapt and survive in nutrient-depleted man-made environments through a unique gene insertion.
Tools and approaches for detecting and analyzing virus communities (viromes) are improving fast. In this (open access) review, we explain how high throughout tools are changing the ways we think about and work with viromes in agriculture and crop biosecurity.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1056603#viruses #PlantPathology #viromes #agriculture #foodsecurity
Translating virome analyses to support biosecurity, on-farm management, and crop breeding
Virome analysis via high-throughput sequencing (HTS) allows rapid and massive virus identification and diagnoses, expanding our focus from individual samples to the ecological distribution of viruses in agroecological landscapes. Decreases in sequencing costs combined with technological advances, such as automation and robotics, allow for efficient processing and analysis of numerous samples in plant disease clinics, tissue culture laboratories, and breeding programs. There are many opportunities for translating virome analysis to support plant health. For example, virome analysis can be employed in the development of biosecurity strategies and policies, including the implementation of virome risk assessments to support regulation and reduce the movement of infected plant material. A challenge is to identify which new viruses discovered through HTS require regulation and which can be allowed to move in germplasm and trade. On-farm management strategies can incorporate information from high-throughput surveillance, monitoring for new and known viruses across scales, to rapidly identify important agricultural viruses and understand their abundance and spread. Virome indexing programs can be used to generate clean germplasm and seed, crucial for the maintenance of seed system production and health, particularly in vegetatively propagated crops such as roots, tubers, and bananas. Virome analysis in breeding programs can provide insight into virus expression levels by generatin...
CellBioNews
Erik Delaquis
Giuseppe Michieli