Comparison of the virome of quarantined sugarcane varieties and the virome of grasses growing near the quarantine station

Visacane is a sugarcane quarantine station located in the South of France, far away from sugarcane growing areas. Visacane imports up to 100 sugarcane varieties per year, using safe control and confinement measures of plants and their wastes to prevent any risk of pathogen spread outside of the facilities. Viruses hosted by the imported material are either known or unknown to cause disease in cultivated sugarcane. Poaceae viruses occurring in plants surrounding the quarantine glasshouse are currently unknown. These viruses could be considered as a source of new sugarcane infections and potentially cause new sugarcane diseases in case of confinement barrier failure. The aim of this study was to compare the plant virome inside and outside of the quarantine station to identify potential confinement failures and risks of cross infections. Leaves from quarantined sugarcane varieties and from wild Poaceae growing near the quarantine were collected and processed by a metagenomics approach based on virion-associated nucleic acids extraction and library preparation for Illumina sequencing. While viruses belonging to the same virus genus or family were identified in the sugarcane quarantine and its surroundings, no virus species was detected in both environments. Collectively, our data suggested that virus movement between quarantined sugarcane and nearby grassland did not occur so far, and that the confinement procedures of Visacane are properly implemented.

Visacane是一家坐落于法国南部、远离甘蔗种植主产区的甘蔗检疫站。该站每年最多引进100个甘蔗品种，通过对植物及其废弃物实施安全管控与隔离措施，以彻底杜绝病原体向外扩散的风险。引进材料所携带的病毒，既有已知可引发栽培甘蔗病害的种类，也有尚未明确其致病性的毒株。目前，检疫温室周边植物中存在的禾本科（Poaceae）病毒种类仍属未知——若隔离屏障失效，这些病毒可能成为甘蔗新感染的源头，并有可能诱发新型甘蔗病害。本研究旨在比对检疫站内外的植物病毒组（virome），以识别潜在的隔离失效风险与交叉感染隐患。研究人员采集了检疫甘蔗品种以及检疫站附近野生禾本科植物的叶片，采用基于病毒粒子关联核酸提取、文库构建的宏基因组学方法完成样本处理，并通过Illumina测序进行分析。尽管在检疫站及其周边环境中均检出了隶属于同一病毒属或科的病毒，但未在两种环境中同时检出同一种病毒。综合来看，本研究数据表明，截至目前检疫甘蔗与周边草地之间尚未发生病毒传播，Visacane的隔离流程实施合规有效。