Discovery of negative sense RNA viruses in trees infected with Apple Rubbery Wood Disease by Next Generation Sequencing

Apple rubbery wood is a disease of apple found around the world, is often associated with Apple flat limb disease, and is regulated in many countries. Despite its long history in apple cultivation, the disease’s causal agent has remained elusive. In this study, next generation sequencing (NGS) was used to identify and characterize several related novel viral agents from apple rubbery wood infected plants, which have been named Apple rubbery wood virus (ARWV) 1 and 2. Additional specimens with apple rubbery wood disease tested positive by PCR with primers designed to ARWV 1 and 2 genomic RNA segments. In an NGS-based screening of over 100 Malus and 100 Prunus specimens from a collection of virus-infected trees, only one Malus specimen was found to be infected with ARWV not known to be infected with the disease, which strongly suggests that ARWV is not commonly found in Malus, or other fruit trees. The two viruses are most closely related to members of the Bunyavirales. Three RNA segments, large, medium and...