Comparison of high throughput sequencing to standard protocols for virus detection in berry crops.

Abstract

A comprehensive study comparing virus detection between high throughput sequencing (HTS) and standard protocols in 30 berry selections (12 Fragaria, 10 Vaccinium and 8 Rubus) with known virus profiles was completed. The study examined temporal detection of viruses at four sampling times encompassing two growing seasons. Within the standard protocols, RT-PCR proved better than biological indexing. Detection of known viruses by HTS and RT-PCR nearly mirrored each other. HTS provided superior detection compared to RT-PCR on a wide spectrum of virus variants and discovery of novel viruses. More importantly, in most cases where the two protocols showed parallel virus detection, 11 viruses in 16 berry selections were not consistently detected by both methods at all sampling points. Based on these data we propose a four sampling times/two-year testing requirement for berry and potentially other crops to ensure that no virus remains undetected independent of titer, distribution or other virus/virus or virus/host interactions.