Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are a particular type of defective class II transposons present in genomes as highly homogeneous populations of small elements. Their high copy number and close association to genes make their potential impact on gene evolution particularly relevant. Here, we present a detailed analysis of the MITE families directly related to grapevine "c...

Viroids are small (246-401 nucleotides), non-coding, circular RNAs able to replicate autonomously in certain plants. Viroids are classified into the families Pospiviroidae and Avsunviroidae, whose members replicate in the nucleus and chloroplast, respectively. Replication occurs by an RNA-based rolling-circle mechanism in three steps: (1). synthesis of longer-than-unit strands catalyzed by host...

The hepatitis delta virus genome is a small circular RNA, similar to viroids. Although HDV contains a gene, the protein produced (HDAg) is encoded by less than half the genome and possesses no RNA polymerase activity. Because of this limited coding capacity, HDV relies heavily on host functions and on structural features of the viral RNA-very much like viroids. The virus' use of host RNA editin...

background and aims: viroids are smallest known plant pathogens and cause several economically significant diseases. until recently, viroid detection relied mainly on biological tests and indexing. today various diagnostic techniques such as nucleic acid hybridization, southern blot and reverse transcription coupled with polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) are being used for detection and diagno...

The full-length coat protein gene of Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) isolates from Iran was characterized byreverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) and sequencing. The expected 1515 bp coatprotein (CP) gene amplicon was obtained for 16 isolates out of 89 that were identified by double antibodysandwich enzyme-linked immunesorbent assay (DASELISA) in a population ...

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is susceptible to many pathogens which cause significant losses to viticulture worldwide. Chemical control is available, but agro-ecological concerns have raised interest in alternative methods, especially in triggering plant immunity by elicitor treatments. The β-glucan laminarin (Lam) and its sulfated derivative (PS3) have been previously demonstrated to induce resi...

Abstract Viroids are smallest, single-stranded, circular, highly structured plant pathogenic RNAs that do not code for any protein. Viroids belong to two families, the Avsunviroidae and the Pospiviroidae. Members of the Pospiviroidae family adopt a rod-like secondary structure. In this study the most stable secondary structures of citrus viroid variants that reported from Fars province wer...

BACKGROUND Expansins are proteins that loosen plant cell walls in a pH-dependent manner, probably by increasing the relative movement among polymers thus causing irreversible expansion. The expansin superfamily (EXP) comprises four distinct families: expansin A (EXPA), expansin B (EXPB), expansin-like A (EXLA) and expansin-like B (EXLB). There is experimental evidence that EXPA and EXPB protein...

The European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana relies on a female produced sex pheromone for long-distance mate finding. Grapevine moth males compete heavily during limited time windows for females. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of host plant volatiles by grapevine moth males and whether such compounds elicit upwind oriented flights. We compared five host plant headspace ...

Citrus are affected by many viruses and viroids, some globally widespread restricted to particular countries or areas. In this study, we simulated the use of high throughput sequencing (HTS) bioinformatic analysis small interfering RNAs (siRNA) as a pre-screening method guide bioindexing molecular detection enhance surveillance survey key emerging citrus viruses, such non-European tristeza viru...