High Prevalence of Viral Pathogens in Chinese Chewing Cane and Effective Control Using Virus-Free Seedlings

Chewing cane (Saccharum spp.), a major economic crop in southern China, is threatened by viral diseases; however, comprehensive data on viral prevalence and management are scarce. Ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNA library sequencing allows detection of viruses with diverse viral genotypes (RNA+, RNA-, DNA viruses) and difficult-to-purify particle. This study employed this method to identify viruses in chewing cane. Chewing cane leaves shown diverse viral disease symptoms were collected and grouped into three were mix-samples for viral metagenomic analysis.