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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #357654
Research Project: Genetics and Management of Newly Emerging Soybean Cyst Nematodes and Predominant Fungal Diseases for Sustainable Soybean Production

Location: Crop Genetics Research

Title: A novel picorna-like genome from transcriptome sequencing of sugar beet cyst nematode represents a new putative genus

Author
item LIN, JINGYU - University Of Tennessee
item YE, RONGJIAN - University Of Tennessee
item THEKKE-VEETIL, THANUJA - University Of Illinois
item STATON, MARGARET - University Of Tennessee
item Arelli, Prakash
item BERNARD, ERNEST - University Of Tennessee
item HEWEZI, TAREK - University Of Tennessee
item Domier, Leslie
item HAJIMORAD, M. - University Of Tennessee

Submitted to: Journal of General Virology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/31/2018
Publication Date: 8/29/2018
Citation: Lin, J., Ye, R., Thekke-Veetil, T., Staton, M.E., Arelli, P.R., Bernard, E.C., Hewezi, T., Domier, L.L., Hajimorad, M.R. 2018. A novel picorna-like genome from transcriptome sequencing of sugar beet cyst nematode represents a new putative genus. Journal of General Virology. https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001139.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001139

Interpretive Summary: Cyst-forming nematodes are subterranean root pathogens that cause significant damage to a wide variety of crops including soybean and sugar beet. One potential method to reduce yield losses caused by cyst-forming nematodes is the use of biological control agents that infect and reduce the virulence of the nematodes. In this study, a novel nematode-infecting virus, sugar beet cyst nematode virus 1 (SBCNV1), was identified in sugar beet cyst nematode eggs and juveniles. SBCNV1 is related to insect-infecting viruses and to a group of nematode-transmitted viruses that infect plants. SBCNV1 was detected in all nematode developmental stages indicating that the virus likely is transmitted from infected females to their offspring. Due to its unique genetic composition, the virus has the potential to be modified by scientists for use as a tool in studies examining how genes in the nematode function. These data will be useful to scientists interested in biological control of nematode populations and the study of invertebrate-infecting viruses.

Technical Abstract: Analysis of transcriptome sequence data from eggs and second-stage juveniles (J2s) of sugar beet cyst nematode (SBCN, Heterodera schachtii) identified the full-length genome of a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus, provisionally named sugar beet cyst nematode virus 1 (SBCNV1). The SBCNV1 sequence was detected in both eggs and J2s, indicating its possible vertical transmission. The 9503-nucleotide genome sequence contains a single long open reading frame, which was predicted to encode a polyprotein with conserved domains for picornaviral structural proteins proximal to its amino terminus and RNA helicase, cysteine proteinase, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) conserved domains proximal to its carboxyl terminus, hallmarks of viruses belonging to the order Picornavirales. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted SBCNV1 RdRp amino acid sequence indicated that the SBCNV1 sequence is most closely related to members of the family Secoviridae, which includes genera of nematode-transmitted plant-infecting viruses.