Analysis of the diversity and prevalence of viruses in native plants Azorean plants by metagenomics: implications for the conservation of plant biodiversity and agricultural production
Informations
- Funding country
Portugal- Acronym
- AzNativePlantVirus
- Start date
- 1/1/2019
- End date
- 12/31/2022
- Budget
- 159,373 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Açores OP 2020: Açores Operational Programme to 2020 | Grant | - | - | 159,373 EUR |
Abstract
The lack of knowledge on viruses infecting Azorean native flora turns out the critical importance of the assessment of virus diversity present, as a support for conservation policies of endangered plant species and to avoid the spread of damaging viruses to undisturbed natural vegetation. As agricultural lands occupy a large proportion of the area of the Azores, native plant communities are often adjacent to agroecosystems, which favors virus dispersal between both ecosystems. Thus, analyzing virus diversity and population dynamics in these wild ecosystems is also of interest to understand virus epidemics in crops. On this project, the viromes of five target endemic plant species will be study. For that, we will take advantage of the HTS technology, once the advances on these field have opened novel doors in discovery, diagnostics, and ecological and evolutionary studies in plant viruses.