Viruses of Wild Plants and Current Metagenomic Methods for Their Investigation

Weeds not only reduce crop yields and alter the functioning of ecosystems but also serve as alternate hosts for pests and plant pathogens or harbor vectors and vector-borne diseases. The role of weeds as reservoirs of viral pathogens and their impact on viral epidemiology and ecology is investigated in many parts of the world. The number of reports on viruses identified in weeds and new viruses discovered in cultivated and uncultivated plants is increasing globally. The most sensitive techniques used in screening and identification of viruses are nucleic acid-based detection methods. The metagenomic strategies are new approaches for analyzing viral populations in environmental samples through nucleic acid sequencing, which will make it possible to fill the gap in our knowledge of viruses in noncultivated plants. This review presents data on weeds as reservoirs of plant viruses and on current methods for studying pathogens.