Primary and secondary structure of citrus viroid IV (CVd IV), a new chimeric viroid present in dwarfed grapefruit in Israel

Viroids of the Mediterranean Basin

There has been substantial progress in the Mediterranean countries regarding research on viroids. Twenty-nine viroid species, all belonging to Pospiviroidae and Avsunviroidae genera, have been detected in the Mediterranean Basin. Not only have detection methods, such as reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and next-generation sequencing, been used for viroid detection, along with molecular hybridization techniques allowing for rapid detection, identification, and characterization of known and novel viroids in these countries, but eradication measures have also been taken that allowed for the efficient elimination of certain viroids in a number of Mediterranean countries. The eradication measures were followed as recommended by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, which is known by its abbreviation, EPPO. The Mediterranean Region has been a niche for viroids since ancient times due to the warm climate and the socio-cultural conditions that facilitate viroid transmission among different host plant species.

Understanding Citrus Viroid Interactions: Experience and Prospects

Citrus is the natural host of at least eight viroid species, providing a natural platform for studying interactions among viroids. The latter manifests as antagonistic or synergistic phenomena. The antagonistic effect among citrus viroids intuitively leads to reduced symptoms caused by citrus viroids, while the synergistic effect leads to an increase in symptom severity. The interaction phenomenon is complex and interesting, and a deep understanding of the underlying mechanisms induced during this viroid interaction is of great significance for the prevention and control of viroid diseases. This paper summarizes the research progress of citrus viroids in recent years, focusing on the interaction phenomenon and analyzing their interaction mechanisms. It points out the core role of the host RNA silencing mechanism and viroid-derived siRNA (vd-siRNA), and provides suggestions for future research directions.

Molecular detection of Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus viroid-III (CVd-III), and Citrus viroid-IV (CVd-IV) in Palestine

Citrus hosts various phytopathogens that have impacted productivity, including viroids. Missing data on the status of viroids in citrus in Palestine were not reported. This study was aimed to detect any of Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus viroid-III (CVd-III), and Citrus viroid-IV (CVd-IV) in the Palestinian National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) germplasm collection Field inspections found symptoms such as leaf epinasty; vein discoloration, and bark cracking on various citrus varieties. RT-PCR revealed a significant prevalence of CVd-IV; CEVd and CVd-III (47%, 31%, and 22%; respectively). CVd-III variants with 91.3% nucleic acid sequence homology have been reported. The sequence of each viroid were deposited in GenBank as (OP925746 for CEVd, OP902248 and OP902249 for CVd-III-PS-1 and -PS-2 isolates, and OP902247 for CVd-IV). This was the first to report three of citrus viroids in Palestine, appealing to apply of phytosanitary measures to disseminate healthy propagating materials free from viroids.

Conserved Motifs and Domains in Members of Pospiviroidae

In 1985, Keese and Symons proposed a hypothesis on the sequence and secondary structure of viroids from the family Pospiviroidae: their secondary structure can be subdivided into five structural and functional domains and “viroids have evolved by rearrangement of domains between different viroids infecting the same cell and subsequent mutations within each domain”; this article is one of the most cited in the field of viroids. Employing the pairwise alignment method used by Keese and Symons and in addition to more recent methods, we tried to reproduce the original results and extent them to further members of Pospiviroidae which were unknown in 1985. Indeed, individual members of Pospiviroidae consist of a patchwork of sequence fragments from the family but the lengths of fragments do not point to consistent points of rearrangement, which is in conflict with the original hypothesis of fixed domain borders.

Transcriptome sequencing reveals novel Citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd) variants from citrus and their molecular characterization

Citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd), previously called Citrus viroid IV, belongs to the genus Cocadviroid within the family Pospiviroidae. CBCVd has been identified as an important causative agent in citrus and hops. In this study, we obtained the full-length genomes of different variants of all detected citrus viroids from Pakistan through transcriptome sequencing. Different CBCVd variants were first found in Pakistan. These newly discovered Pakistani CBCVd variants were provisionally called "CBCVd-LSS" for their low sequence similarity (80.9%-88.9%) with the CBCVd RefSeq sequence (NC_003539). The two most predominant CBCVd sequences from Pakistan had the closest identity, 90.6% and 87.9%, with two CBCVd sequences isolated from hops. Identification and molecular characterization of CBCVd from citrus in Pakistan and China were also reported. The length of CBCVd from China ranged from 282 to 286 nucleotides, while that of the one from Pakistan ranged from 273 to 277 nucleotides. Based on genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis, two main CBCVd clades were identified. CBCVd sequences from Pakistan, China, and other countries were further divided into six sub-clades. Sequence alignment revealed some nucleotide changes between these sub-clades, and analysis indicated that several mutations could significantly affect the primary and secondary structure of the viroid. Our results indicated that the CBCVd sequences from Pakistan and China were significantly different with respect to genome and secondary structure and Pakistan might be one of the independent geographical origins of CBCVd worldwide.

Stem-Loop RNA Hairpins in Giant Viruses: Invading rRNA-Like Repeats and a Template Free RNA

We examine the hypothesis that de novo template-free RNAs still form spontaneously, as they did at the origins of life, invade modern genomes, contribute new genetic material. Previously, analyses of RNA secondary structures suggested that some RNAs resembling ancestral (t)RNAs formed recently de novo, other parasitic sequences cluster with rRNAs. Here positive control analyses of additional RNA secondary structures confirm ancestral and de novo statuses of RNA grouped according to secondary structure. Viroids with branched stems resemble de novo RNAs, rod-shaped viroids resemble rRNA secondary structures, independently of GC contents. 5' UTR leading regions of West Nile and Dengue flavivirid viruses resemble de novo and rRNA structures, respectively. An RNA homologous with Megavirus, Dengue and West Nile genomes, copperhead snake microsatellites and levant cotton repeats, not templated by Mimivirus' genome, persists throughout Mimivirus' infection. Its secondary structure clusters with candidate de novo RNAs. The saltatory phyletic distribution and secondary structure of Mimivirus' peculiar RNA suggest occasional template-free polymerization of this sequence, rather than noncanonical transcriptions (swinger polymerization, posttranscriptional editing).

Propagation and some physiological effects of Citrus bark cracking viroid and Apple fruit crinkle viroid in multiple infected hop (Humulus lupulus L.)

The hop metabolome important for the brewing industry and for medical purposes is endangered worldwide due to multiple viroid infections affecting hop physiology. Combinatorial biolistic hop inoculation with Citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd), Apple fruit crinkle viroid (AFCVd), Hop latent viroid, and Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) showed a low CBCVd compatibility with HSVd, while all other viroid combinations were highly compatible. Unlike to other viroids, single CBCVd propagation showed a significant excess of (-) over (+) strands in hop, tomato, and Nicotiana benthamiana, but not in citruses. Inoculation of hop with all viroids led to multiple infections with unstable viroid levels in individual plants in the pre- and post-dormancy periods, and to high plant mortality and morphological disorders. Hop isolates of CBCVd and AFCVd were highly stable, only minor quasispecies were detected. CBCVd caused a strong suppression of some crucial mRNAs related to the hop prenylflavonoid biosynthesis pathway, while AFCVd-caused effects were moderate. According to mRNA degradome analysis, this suppression was not caused by a direct viroid-specific small RNA-mediated degradation. CBCVd infection led to a strong induction of two hop transcription factors from WRKY family and to a disbalance of WRKY/WDR1 complexes important for activation of lupulin genes.

Citrus Viroids: Symptom Expression and Performance of Washington Navel Sweet Orange Trees Grafted on Carrizo Citrange

Citrus are natural hosts of several viroid species. Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) and Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) are the causal agents of two well-known diseases of citrus, exocortis and cachexia. Other viroids have been found to induce specific symptoms and different degrees of stunting in trees grafted on trifoliate orange and trifoliate orange hybrids. A field assay was initiated in 1989 to establish the effect of CEVd, HSVd, Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd), Citrus dwarfing viroid (CDVd), and Citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd) on Washington navel sweet orange trees grafted on Carrizo citrange rootstock. Here we report the effect of viroid infection on symptom expression, tree size, fruit production and quality evaluated from 2004 to 2007. Vegetative growth was affected by viroid infection with height and canopy volume being reduced. No bark scaling symptoms were observed in CEVd-infected trees albeit they presented lesions and blisters in the roots. Bark cracking symptoms were consistently observed in CBCVd-infected trees that were smaller with enhanced productivity and fruit size. No major effects were found as a result of infection with CBLVd, HSVd, or CDVd. The quality of the fruits was not affected by viroid infection, except for the low diameter of the fruits harvested from HSVd-infected trees. An interesting effect was identified in terms of tree productivity increase (yield/canopy volume) as a result of infection with CEVd, CDVd, and especially CBCVd.

Evolutionary constraints to viroid evolution

We suggest that viroids are trapped into adaptive peaks as the result of adaptive constraints. The first one is imposed by the necessity to fold into packed structures to escape from RNA silencing. This creates antagonistic epistases, which make future adaptive trajectories contingent upon the first mutation and slow down the rate of adaptation. This second constraint can only be surpassed by increasing genetic redundancy or by recombination. Eigen's paradox imposes a limit to the increase in genome complexity in the absence of mechanisms reducing mutation rate. Therefore, recombination appears as the only possible route to evolutionary innovation in viroids.

Construction of a multiprobe for the simultaneous detection of viroids infecting citrus trees

Infections with different viroid species are common among cultivated fruit trees and grapevines, and many old-clone citrus varieties contain up to five citrus viroids (CVds) within a single tree. This paper describes the construction of a CVd-Multiprobe consisting of full-length clones of Hop stunt viroid, Citrus exocortis viroid, Citrus bent leaf viroid and CVd-III. The CVd-Multiprobe was tested against RNA transcripts of the four viroids and RNA extracts from plants singly infected with CEVd or HSVd or multiply infected with different CVds. The viroids were effectively diagnosed with the DIG labeled CVd-Multiprobe when tested by Northern hybridization or dot blot analyses. The CVd-Multiprobe does not provide information on the specific viroid resulting in a positive signal. However, this should not be considered as a problem, since most citrus certification programs will discard budwood source trees infected with any of the known CVds.

Interactions between citrus viroids affect symptom expression and field performance of clementine trees grafted on trifoliate orange

ABSTRACT Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd), a noncachexia variant of Hop stunt viroid (HSVd), Citrus viroid III (CVd-III), and Citrus viroid IV (CVd-IV) were co-inoculated as two-, three-, four-, and five-viroid mixtures to Clementine trees grafted on trifoliate orange to evaluate their effect on symptom expression, tree growth, and fruit yield. Most trees infected with CEVd-containing viroid mixtures developed exocortis scaling symptoms, as did CEVd alone, whereas most trees infected with HSVd- or CVd-IV-containing mixtures developed bark-cracking symptoms. Trees infected with mixtures containing both CEVd and CVd-IV revealed the existence of antagonism between these two viroids in terms of the expected bark-scaling and cracking symptoms. Synergistic interactions also were identified in trees infected with certain viroid combinations that, in spite of lacking CEVd, expressed exocortis-like scaling symptoms. Viroid interactions also affected the expected response of trees in terms of vegetative growth and fruit yield. Trees infected with viroid combinations containing CEVd or CVd-III were smaller and produced less fruit than trees infected with mixtures not containing these viroids. Viroid interactions on scion circumference and cumulative fruit yield, in terms of additivity of their effects, were statistically confirmed using a factorial analysis of variance model with two mean estimation approaches. In single-viroid infections, CEVd, CVd-III, and, to a lesser extent, CBLVd consistently and significantly reduced tree size and fruit yield. Conversely, HSVd and CVd-IV slightly increased fruit yield and reduced scion circumference. Rare and not consistent significant interactions were detected with the five-, four-, and three-viroid combinations. Antagonistic interactions between CEVd and CVd-III or CBLVd and CVd-III were revealed over the years with consistent significance. The antagonistic interaction between CEVd and CVd-IV was highly significant over the years when additional viroids were present; however, this antagonism appeared much later in the case of an exclusive interaction. HSVd and CVd-IV showed a consistent and significant synergistic interaction on yield only when both viroids were exclusively present. These results demonstrate antagonistic or synergistic relationships between citrus viroids depending on the viroid mixtures present in the host.

A novel RT-PCR approach for detection and characterization of citrus viroids

Citrus plants are natural hosts of five viroid species and a large number of sequence variants. Because of their small size, viroids lend themselves to various RT-PCR approaches for their detection and further characterization. The one-step RT-PCR approach proposed here is based on the synthesis of viroid-cDNA by reverse transcription at 60 degrees C using a viroid specific 27-mer primer followed by standard second strand synthesis plus PCR amplification with various primer pairs. According to the primers used, full or partial length viroid-DNA is obtained. The technique avoids amplicon contamination in routine diagnosis. The suitability of the technique has been demonstrated using several nucleic acid extraction procedures and different viroid infected host species. The homogenization of tissue inside sealed plastic bags followed by nucleic acid extraction using a SDS/potassium acetate method is recommended because of its efficiency, simplicity and low cost. This extraction procedure, when coupled to the one-step RT-PCR approach, can be useful to avoid cross-contamination during routine diagnosis. A PCR strategy capable of discriminating between mild and severe strains of CEVd and identifying cachexia-inducing isolates of HSVd, is also described.

Memory efficient folding algorithms for circular RNA secondary structures

BACKGROUND

A small class of RNA molecules, in particular the tiny genomes of viroids, are circular. Yet most structure prediction algorithms handle only linear RNAs. The most straightforward approach is to compute circular structures from 'internal' and 'external' substructures separated by a base pair. This is incompatible, however, with the memory-saving approach of the Vienna RNA Package which builds a linear RNA structure from shorter (internal) structures only.

RESULT

Here we describe how circular secondary structures can be obtained without additional memory requirements as a kind of 'post-processing' of the linear structures.

AVAILABILITY

The circular folding algorithm is implemented in the current version of the of RNAfold program of the Vienna RNA Package, which can be downloaded from http://www.tbi.univie.ac.at/RNA/

Citrus Viroids: Symptom Expression and Effect on Vegetative Growth and Yield of Clementine Trees Grafted on Trifoliate Orange

Citrus are natural hosts of five viroid species: Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd), Hop stunt viroid (HSVd), Citrus viroid III (CVd-III), and Citrus viroid IV (CVd-IV). CEVd and specific sequence variants of HSVd are the causal agents of the wellknown diseases of citrus, exocortis and cachexia. Other viroids have been found to induce different degrees of stunting. Since commercial citrus trees are commonly infected with mixtures of these viroids, only limited information is available on their effect in species other than Etrog citron. A field assay was conducted to establish the effect of each viroid on Commune clementine trees grafted on Pomeroy trifoliate orange. Infected trees were periodically monitored over a 12-year period (1990 to 2002) for symptom expression, growth, and fruit yield. Only CEVd caused bark scaling on the trifoliate orange rootstock and marked dwarfing, both characteristic of exocortis disease as initially described. In addition, very conspicuous bumps were observed in the wood of the rootstock after removing the bark. Only those HSVd variants, previously characterized as pathogenic in several cachexia-sensitive species, induced pits and gum deposits characteristic of this disease in the clementine scion. Bark cracking symptoms on the trifoliate orange rootstock were also observed. They were associated with CVd-IV, HSVd, or CEVd infection, but in the latter, they were only clearly observed in trees that showed mild scaling. Other abnormalities (deep pits, crests, and gummy pits) were not associated with viroid infection. No specific symptoms resulted from infection with CBLVd and CVd-III. HSVd, CVd-IV, and CBLVd had little or no effect in growth and yield, whereas CEVd and CVd-III caused a significant reduction of growth and yield, which became more pronounced over time with CEVd infection. Yield reduction was associated mainly with loss of production of large fruits. In general, there was a good correlation between reduction in vegetative growth and yield.

Simultaneous detection of six citrus viroids and Apple stem grooving virus from citrus plants by multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction

We developed a multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect six citrus viroids: Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd), Hop stunt viroid (HSVd), Citrus viroid III (CVd-III), Citrus viroid IV (CVd-IV) and Citrus viroid OS (CVd-OS) and Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV, synonym: Citrus tatter leaf virus (CTLV)) from citrus plants. The multiplex RT-PCR was also designed to distinguish CVd-I-LSS (a distinct variant of CBLVd) from CBLVd. By the multiplex RT-PCR, one to eight fragments specific to the pathogens were simultaneously amplified from one sample and identified by their specific molecular sizes in 6% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results of the multiplex RT-PCR were consistent with those of other diagnoses, such as uniplex RT-PCR, to detect each of the pathogens. The multiplex RT-PCR provides a simple and rapid method for detecting various viroids and ASGV in citrus plants, which will help diagnose many citrus plants at a time.

Multiple citrus viroids in citrus from Japan and their ability to produce exocortis-like symptoms in citron

ABSTRACT Sequential polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses showed many viroid-like RNAs in samples collected from citrus trees in Japan. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and sequencing analyses of the amplified fragments verified that they were derived from variants of six citrus viroids, Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd) including CVd-I-LSS (a distinct variant of CBLVd), Hop stunt viroid, Citrus viroid III, Citrus viroid IV, and Citrus viroid OS. The samples induced symptoms with variable severity in Arizona 861-S1 'Etrog' citrons (Citrus medica L.) likely due to the varying accumulation patterns produced by the different viroids. Some of the symptoms caused by the samples harboring the citrus viroids other than CEVd were as severe as those caused by CEVd. Some source citrus trees showing the severe bark scaling characteristic of exocortis disease in trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.) rootstocks contained only citrus viroids other than CEVd in complex. This indicates that certain exocortis-like diseases in Japan were caused by some combination of citrus viroids not including CEVd.

Viroids and the nature of viroid diseases

In its methodology, the unexpected discovery of the viroid in 1971 resembles that of the virus by Beijerinck some 70 years earlier. In either case, a novel type of plant pathogen was recognized by its ability to penetrate through a medium with pores small enough to exclude even the smallest previously known pathogen: bacteria as compared with the tobacco mosaic agent; viruses as compared with the potato spindle tuber agent. Interestingly, one of the two methods used by Beijerinck, diffusion of the tobacco mosaic agent into agar gels, is conceptually similar to one method used to establish the size of the potato spindle tuber agent, namely polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Further work demonstrated that neither agent is an unusually small conventional pathogen (a microbe in the case of the tobacco mosaic agent; a virus in the case of the potato spindle tuber agent), but that either agent represents the prototype of a fundamentally distinct class of pathogen, the viruses and the viroids, respectively. With the viroids, this distinction became evident once their unique molecular structure, lack of mRNA activity, and autonomous replication had become elucidated. Functionally, viroids rely to a far greater extent than viruses on their host's biosynthetic systems: Whereas translation of viral genetic information is essential for virus replication, viroids are totally dependent on their hosts' transcriptional system and, in contrast to viruses, no viroid-coded proteins are involved. Because of the viroids' simplicity and extremely small size they approach more closely even than viruses Beijerinck's concept of a contagium vivum fluidum.

A simple, rapid method of nucleic acid extraction without tissue homogenization for detecting viroids by hybridization and RT-PCR

A simple, rapid method of nucleic acid extraction on a microcentrifuge tube scale for detecting viroids is presented. Five distinct citrus viroids (CVds), chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd), hop stunt viroid (HSVd), hop latent viroid (HLVd) and potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) were detected in their natural host plants by hybridization using cRNA probes and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Nucleic acids (NA) were liberated from tissues by incubation in a buffer containing potassium ethyl xanthogenate (PEX) without tissue homogenization, and then precipitated with ethanol (NA-PEX). All the viroids except CVd-IV could be detected clearly in NA-PEX by hybridization. HSVd, HLVd and PSTVd could also be detected in NA-PEX by RT-PCR. Although CVds and CSVd could not be detected in NA-PEX by RT-PCR, they were detected after further purification: differential precipitation with 2-butoxyethanol and HCl treatment followed by ethanol-precipitation. In addition, PCR in the presence of tetramethylammonium chloride specifically amplified the cDNA of all five distinct CVds under the same temperature and cycle conditions. Since all the viroids could be detected in NA liberated by PEX, the amount of NA extracted by the method described here is sufficient for detecting viroids, enabling the processing of a large number of samples.

Inosine 5'-triphosphate can dramatically increase the yield of NASBA products targeting GC-rich and intramolecular base-paired viroid RNA

Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) according to the standard protocol failed to amplify cRNA of viroids, probably because of their GC-rich and intramolecular base-paired structure. However, NASBA in the presence of inosine 5'-triphosphate successfully amplified the cRNAs to viroids in total nucleic acid extracts from citrus plants. As sequence specificity of the cRNA to viroids was confirmed by northern analysis, the amplification and fidelity of cRNAs are sufficient for the sensitive and specific detection of viroids.

Compilation and analysis of viroid and viroid-like RNA sequences

We have created a catalogue comprising all viroid and viroid-like RNA sequences which to our knowledge have been either published or were available from on-line sequence libraries as of October 1, 1995. In the development of this catalogue nomenclature ambiguities were removed, the likely ancestral sequence of most species was determined and the most stable secondary structures of these sequences were predicted using the MulFold package. Only viroids of PSTVd-type possessed a rod-like secondary structure, while most other viroids adopted branched secondary structures. Several viroids have predicted secondary structures that include either a Y or cruciform structure reminiscent of the tRNA-like end of virus genomes at an extremity. However, it remains unknown whether or not these predicted structures are adopted in solution, and if they serve a particular function in vivo. Additional information such as the position of the self-catalytic domains are included in the catalogue. An analysis of the data compilated in the catalogue is included. The catalogue will be available on the world wide web (http://www.callistro.si.usherb.ca/jpperra), on computer disk and in printed form. It should provide an excellent reference point for further studies.

Nucleotide sequence of a hop stunt viroid variant isolated from citrus growing in Taiwan

The 303 nucleotide sequence of HSVd-citrus(T), a hop stunt viroid (HSVd) variant present in Etrog citron growing in Taiwan, was determined from cDNAs amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. HSVd-citrus(T) is very similar to several HSVd isolates previously recovered from citrus or cucumber, and exhibits microsequence heterogeneity at positions 154 and 181. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum parsimony grouped HSVd-citrus(T) with seven other isolates from citrus and cucumber in a large cluster of "citrus-type" isolates. A similar analysis revealed marked differences in both the extent and distribution of sequence variation among naturally occurring isolates of potato spindle tuber viroid.