Andrea Fetters - Ashman Lab
"Proximity to human disturbance and flower traits shape the pollen virome"
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
12:10 PM
Virtual Zoom seminar
Abstract:
Pollen is a unique vehicle for viral spread. Pollen-associated viruses “hitchhike” on or within pollen grains transported to new hosts by pollinators. They are deposited on vulnerable flowers and thus have a direct pathway to the plant interior and next generation via seeds. To uncover the diversity of pollen-associated viruses, and understand landscape and floral features that drive pollen-mediated viral spread, we performed a species-level metagenomic survey of pollen from wild, asymptomatic plants (24 species, 16 families, five subclasses) located in one of four regions in the United States that vary in human disturbance. We identified 24 known and many novel viruses, including nine coding-complete viral genomes, as pollen-associated. Half of these belong to Bromoviridae, Partitiviridae, and Secoviridae viral families, but many others are represented, greatly expanding knowledge of pollen virome diversity. Wild plants growing near agriculture/urbanization harbored more viruses than those in natural areas. When examining the novel connection between virus richness and traits related to plant-pollinator interactions, we found plant species with multiple, bilaterally symmetric flowers, and smaller, spikier pollen harbored more viruses than those with opposite traits. The association of viral diversity with landscape and floral traits highlights the need to incorporate pollination as a driver of plant-viral interactions.