Metatranscriptome-Based Analysis of Viral Incidence in Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) in Korea

This work investigated the viral infection in jujube plants in Korea. A total of 61 samples with the symptoms of putative viral infection were collected from experimental fields and orchards. Thereafter, the samples were subjected to metatranscriptome analysis, Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis, and nucleotide sequence analysis. These analyses identified the presence of two DNA viruses, jujube-associated badnavirus (JuBV), jujube mosaic-associated virus (JuMaV), and one RNA virus, jujube yellow mottle-associated virus (JYMaV). All samples collected were confirmed to be infected by at least one of the three viruses, with most showed multiple infections. The detection rates of JuBV, JYMaV, and JuMaV were 100%, 90.2%, and 8.2%, respectively. Only three combinations of viral infections were found: 9.8% of samples showed single infection of JuBV, 82.0% showed double infection of JuBV+JYMaV, and 8.2% showed triple infection of JuBV+JYMaV+JuMaV. Sequence analysis of the three viruses showed very high homology with respective virus isolates reported in China. This study is predicted to provide fundamental data to produce virus-free jujube seedlings and represents the first report of JuBV and JuMaV infection in Korea.