P-606 - Viruses associated with sweetpotato in Hawaiʻi

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is a nutrient-rich and economically important specialty crop, belonging to morning glory family (Convolvulaceae), with an overall U.S. production estimated at more than $720 million. Among the pathogens affecting this crop, viruses iare considered a major constraint to the industry across the United States and worldwide. Accordingly, one of the objectives of a transdisciplinary multistate Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) project “CleanSEED”, is to  characterize viruses associated with sweetpotato plants collected from production fields in several major sweetpotato-producing states. RNAs were extracted from a total of 65 samples collected in Hawaiʻi and submitted to a custom-based high-throughput sequencing approach on an Illumina platform utilizing 2x150 pair-end methodology. Two sample pools were created prior to library constructions and sequencing (total of 35 samples). Approximately 75-85 million raw reads generated for each of 35 samples were assembled and blasted against NCBI virus database. As a result, a total of 84 viral genomes were generated. Several samples were not infected with known pathogenic viruses, while mix infections of up to four viruses were common in others. Interestingly, sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) was the most prevalent virus in tested samples followed by the two potyviruses, sweet potato virus G (SPVG) and sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV). This research was supported by the intramural research program of the USDA-NIFA, Specialty Crop Research Initiative, accession no. 1029242.