A new method for the high-throughput sequencing of full virus genomes
Professor Hervé Vanderschuren (Plant Genetics Lab, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - Université de Liège) together with colleagues at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) has established a new method for the high-throughput sequencing of full virus genomes. They demonstrate the importance of this new method by assessing the alteration of virus populations triggered by virus resistant plants in a field trial in Africa.
Recent advances in sequencing technologies open new opportunities to sequence genomes of host organisms and their pathogens. Because viral pathogens evolve rapidly, it is essential to monitor their diversity in order to anticipate disease epidemics as well as to assess the robustness of virus resistance present in living organisms.
In a recent article published in Nucleic Acids Research, Professor Hervé Vanderschuren and his team developed a method (that they named CIDER-Seq for Circular DNA Enrichment Sequencing) to characterize each viral genome present in a host. They used this method to characterize the viral populations present in virus-susceptible and virus-resistant cassava plants in Africa. Cassava is an important food security crop in the tropics where its starchy storage roots serve as a staple for over 500 million people. Cassava mosaic disease (see Photo) is a viral disease that severely constrains cassava production on the African continent with overall losses estimated at around 25% of the total production.
The method developed by Professor Hervé Vanderschuren’s team will contribute to the better characterization of the virus resistance traits deployed in the field. In the present work, they also demonstrate the importance of deploying broad spectrum virus resistance (i.e. resistance to multiple virus species) for sustainable mitigation of viral diseases in the field.
The technology is also very cost effective and therefore it will likely facilitate the use of high-throughput sequencing technologies for agricultural research on the African continent.
Nucleic Acids Research ranks amongst the best journals in the category Genetics as well as Biochemistry, Genetic and Molecular Biology.
Photo © H.Vanderschuren : Virus-susceptible (right) and virus-resistant (left) cassava in a farmer’s field.
