Infectious clones were generated from 17 new Korean radish isolates of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that all new isolates, and three previously characterized Korean radish isolates, belong to the basal-BR group (indicating that the pathotype can infect both Brassica and Raphanus spp.). Pairwise analysis revealed genomic nucleotide and polyprotein amino acid identities of >87.9 and >95.7%, respectively. Five clones (HJY1, HJY2, KIH2, BE, and prior isolate R007) had lower sequence identities than other isolates and produced mild symptoms in Nicotiana benthamiana. These isolates formed three distinct sequence classes (HJY1/HJY2/R007, KIH2, and BE), and several differential amino acid residues (in P1, P3, 6K2, and VPg) were present only in mild isolates HJY1, HJY2, and R007. The remaining isolates all induced systemic necrosis in N. benthamiana. Four mild isolates formed a phylogenetic subclade separate from another subclade including all of the necrosis-inducing isolates plus mild isolate KIH2. Symptom severity in radish and Chinese cabbage genotypes was not correlated with pathogenicity in N. benthamiana; indeed, Chinese cabbage cultivar Norang was not infected by any isolate, whereas Chinese cabbage cultivar Chusarang was uniformly susceptible. Four isolates were unable to infect radish cultivar Iljin, but no specific amino acid residues were correlated with avirulence. These results may lead to the identification of new resistance genes against TuMV.

In 2014, we performed a nationwide survey in Korean radish fields to investigate the distribution and variability of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV). Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis sap-inoculated with three isolates of TuMV from infected radish tissue showed different symptom severities, whereas symptoms in Raphanus sativus were similar for each isolate. The helper component-protease (HC-Pro) genes of each isolate were sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis showed that the three Korean isolates were clustered into the basal-BR group. The HC-Pro proteins of these isolates were tested for their RNA silencing suppressor (VSR) activity and subcellular localization in Nicotiana benthamiana. A VSR assay by co-agroinfiltration of HC-Pro with soluble-modified GFP (smGFP) showed that HC-Pro of isolate R007 and R041 showed stronger VSR activity than R065. The HC-Pros showed 98.25 % amino acid identity, and weak VSR isolate (R065) has a single variant residue in the C-terminal domain associated with protease activity and self-interaction compared to isolates with strong VSR activity. Formation of large subcellular aggregates of GFP:HC-Pro fusion proteins in N. benthamiana was only observed for HC-Pro from isolates with strong VSR activity, suggesting that R065 'weak' HC-Pro may have diminished self-association; substitution of the variant C-terminal residue largely reversed the HC-Pro aggregation and silencing suppressor characteristics. The lack of correlation between VSR efficiency and induction of systemic necrosis (SN) suggests that differences in viral accumulation due to HC-Pro are not responsible for SN.

Seed-transmitted viruses have caused significant damage to watermelon crops in Korea in recent years, with cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) infection widespread as a result of infected seed lots. To determine the likely origin of CGMMV infection, we collected CGMMV isolates from watermelon and melon fields and generated full-length infectious cDNA clones. The full-length cDNAs were cloned into newly constructed binary vector pJY, which includes both the 35S and T7 promoters for versatile usage (agroinfiltration and in vitro RNA transcription) and a modified hepatitis delta virus ribozyme sequence to precisely cleave RNA transcripts at the 3' end of the tobamovirus genome. Three CGMMV isolates (OMpj, Wpj, and Mpj) were separately evaluated for infectivity in Nicotiana benthamiana, demonstrated by either Agroinfiltration or inoculation with in vitro RNA transcripts. CGMMV nucleotide identities to other tobamoviruses were calculated from pairwise alignments using DNAMAN. CGMMV identities were 49.89% to tobacco mosaic virus; 49.85% to pepper mild mottle virus; 50.47% to tomato mosaic virus; 60.9% to zucchini green mottle mosaic virus; and 60.96% to kyuri green mottle mosaic virus, confirming that CGMMV is a distinct species most similar to other cucurbit-infecting tobamoviruses. We further performed phylogenetic analysis to determine relationships of our new Korean CGMMV isolates to previously characterized isolates from Canada, China, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain, and Taiwan available from NCBI. Analysis of CGMMV amino acid sequences showed three major clades, broadly typified as 'Russian,' 'Israeli,' and 'Asian' groups. All of our new Korean isolates fell within the 'Asian' clade. Neither the 128 nor 186 kDa RdRps of the three new isolates showed any detectable gene silencing suppressor function.

One hundred and forty-seven soil samples were collected from corn fields located within 63 Illinois counties during the 2018 and 2020 corn growing seasons. The soil samples were analyzed for frequency and population density of plant-parasitic nematodes. A total of 10 plant-parasitic nematode taxa were identified. Spiral nematode (Helicotylenchus spp.) was the most frequently observed nematode (frequency: 98.6%), followed by lesion nematode (Pratylenchus spp., 85.7%). Other taxa identified included cyst (Heteroderidae, 66.7%), stunt (Tylenchorhynchus spp., 33.3%), lance (Hoplolaimus spp., 29.9%), dagger (Xiphinema spp., 12.9%), pin (Paratylenchus spp., 12.2%), needle (Longidorus spp., 1.4%), stubby-root (Trichodoridae, 1.4%), and ring nematodes (Criconematidae, 0.7%). Nematodes with the greatest population densities included spiral (89 nematodes per 100 cm3 of soil), pin (36), and cyst nematodes (26). Among the 10 nematode taxa, 4.1%, 7.1%, and 2.3% of spiral, lesion, and lance nematodes positive samples exceeded estimated damage thresholds for corn for Illinois, respectively. Results from this survey will help the agricultural community with understanding pathogenic corn nematode populations in the state and prioritize research in this understudied area.

A 2014 nationwide survey in radish fields investigated the distribution of common viruses and possible emerging viruses. Radish leaves with virus-like symptoms were collected and 108 samples assayed by RT-PCR using specific primers for Radish mosaic virus (RaMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), and Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV); 47 samples were TuMV positive, and RaMV and CMV were detected in 3 and 2 samples, respectively. No samples showed double infection of TuMV/RaMV, or RaMV/CMV, but two double infections of TuMV/ CMV were detected. TuMV isolates were sorted by symptom severity, and three isolates (R007-mild; R041 and R065-severe) selected for BLAST and phylogenetic analysis, which indicated that the coat protein (CP) of these isolates (R007, R041, and R065) have approx. 98-99% homology to a previously reported TuMV isolate. RaMV CP showed approx. 99% homology to a previously reported isolate, and the CMV CP is identical to a previously reported Korean isolate (GenBank : GU327368). Three isolates of TuMV showing different pathogenicity (degree of symptom severity) will be valuable to study determinants of pathogenicity.