Infectivity assays and ultrastructural characterization of Thalassia testudinum agroinfected with Turtle grass virus X (TGVX) in laboratory aquaria, February-May 2024

This dataset documents molecular, phenotypic, and ultrastructural data generated during the first successful agroinfection of a marine angiosperm (Thalassia testudinum) using an infectious cDNA clone of Turtle Grass Virus X (TGVX), a positive-sense single-stranded RNA potexvirus. The dataset comprises three primary types of image data:

Multiplex RT-PCR gel images, used to confirm TGVX presence before and after agroinfection.
Photographs of infected and control plants, capturing visible symptoms such as leaf wrinkling, curling, and deformation.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images depicting viral cytopathology, including virus-like particles, putative replication organelles, disrupted chloroplast ultrastructure, and other infection-associated features at the cellular level.

Each image is indexed in an accompanying file inventory table (file_inventory_table.xlsx), which provides detailed metadata including filename, experimental treatment condition (e.g., mock, pre-inoculation, post-inoculation), imaging method, descriptive annotations of visual features, scale bars (where applicable), and publication status. This dataset includes the full set of TEM images generated during the agroinfection experiments, representing all observed cytopathological features across experimental replicates.

All experiments were carried out under controlled aquarium conditions from February to May 2024. This standalone dataset supports research on marine virology, virus-host interactions, and seagrass ecosystem health by enabling visual and molecular examination of TGVX infection dynamics in a key tropical seagrass species.