Variable Populations of Grapevine Virus T Are Present in Vineyards of Hungary

Abstract

Grapevine virus T (GVT) is a recently described foveavirus, which was identified from a transcriptome of a Teroldego grapevine cultivar in 2017. Recently, we surveyed vineyards and rootstock plantations in Hungary using small RNA (sRNA) high-throughput sequencing (HTS), at a time when GVT had not yet been described. A re-analysis of our sRNA HTS datasets and a survey of grapevines by RT-PCR revealed the presence of GVT in most of the vineyards tested, while at rootstock fields its presence was very rare. The presence and high variability of the virus in the country was confirmed by sequence analysis of strains originating from different vineyards. In this study, we demonstrate the presence of GVT in Hungary and show its high diversity, suggesting that GVT presence may not seriously affect grapevine health and that it could have been present in European vineyards for a long time as a latent infection.

High-Throughput Sequencing of Small RNAs for Diagnostics of Grapevine Viruses and Viroids in Russia

“…Phylogenetic analysis of the coat protein genes of the Russian GVT isolates and sequences from GenBank showed a uniform distribution of the Russian isolates throughout the phylogenetic tree (Supplementary Figure S8). Our isolates clustered together with isolates that were previously assigned to groups IV, V, and I by Demian et al (2021) [41]. Sequencing of sRNAs for the detection of viruses of the Foveavirus genus was performed previously, in particular, for GRSPaV [16][17][18].…”

“…In a number of earlier studies devoted to the analysis of the grapevine virome, GVT was not detected in sRNA libraries [22,[38][39][40]. However, a reanalysis of the results obtained in 2018 and 2020 [21,22] by bioinformatics and molecular methods confirmed the presence of the virus in Hungarian vineyards [41].…”

Virome of Grapevine Germplasm from the Anapa Ampelographic Collection (Russia)

“…GVT is another member of the genus Foveavirus, recently identified as a result of transcriptome analysis of the grape [65]. The effect of GVT on the grapevine is still unknown, since it can be present on vines without any visible symptoms [62,66,67]. GVT has been registered in the Slovakia, Czech Republic [68], Germany [69], China [70], Turkey [71], Hungary [67], and Russia [35].…”

“…The effect of GVT on the grapevine is still unknown, since it can be present on vines without any visible symptoms [62,66,67]. GVT has been registered in the Slovakia, Czech Republic [68], Germany [69], China [70], Turkey [71], Hungary [67], and Russia [35]. GVT has been detected in the germplasm collections of Croatia [60], France [62], the USA [66], and Italy [64].…”

Clematis vitalba Is a Natural Host of the Novel Ilarvirus, Prunus Virus I

“…This response can be weakened in long plant–virus coexistence, as it was the case in the grapevine rupestris stem-pitting associated virus infected grapevine [ 24 ], making sRNA HTS unable to detect its infection [ 25 ]. Recently described viruses, like grapevine virus T (GVT) are often thought to be overlooked because of their latency and absence of strong host response [ 26 ]. This seems not to be the case in PrVI.…”