First report of grapevine asteroid mosaic-associated virus infecting free-living grapevine (Vitis spp) in New York State.

In North America, uncultivated, free-living grapevines (Vitus spp.) frequently grow alongside their cultivated counterparts thus increasing the potential for exchange of microbiota. For this study we used high throughput sequencing of small RNAs (sRNA-Seq) to survey for virus populations in free living grapevines of the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Of thirty-two grapevines analyzed, twenty-three were free-living vines, while the remaining nine were commercial grown V. vinifera plants from the same region. In total, eighteen (78.3%) of the free-living grapevines tested were positive for grapevine asteroid mosaic associated virus (GAMaV) infection. The sequence of the only GAMaV from a cultivated grapevine had its highest identity to the previously identified Cabernet franc-infecting isolate GV30. Given the prevalence of this virus in free-living vines further studies to determine its mode of transmission and its effect on commercial grapevine development when alone and in combination with other viruses.