Maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND) is a devastating viral disease of maize caused by double infection with Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and any one of the Potyviridae family members. Management of MLND requires effective resistance screening and surveillance tools. In this study, we report the use of small RNA (sRNA) profiling to detect MLND causal viruses and further the development of alternative detection markers for use in routine surveillance of the disease‐causing viruses. Small RNAs (sRNAs) originating from five viruses namely MCMV, Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), Maize streak virus (MSV), Maize‐associated totivirus (MATV) and Maize yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) were assembled from infected maize samples collected from MLND hot spots in Kenya. The expression of the identified viral domains was further validated using quantitative real‐time PCR. New markers for the detection of some of the MLND causal viruses were also developed from the highly expressed domains and used to detect the MLND‐causative viruses in maize and alternative hosts. These findings further demonstrate the potential of using sRNAs especially from highly expressed viral motifs in the detection of MLND causal viruses. We report the validation of new sets of primers for use in detection of the most common MLND causal viruses MCMV and SCMV in East Africa.

中文翻译：

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通过小 RNA 分析鉴定玉米和疑似替代宿主中的玉米致死性坏死病病毒

玉米致死性坏死病（MLND）是由玉米褪绿斑驳病毒（MCMV）和Potyviridae家族中的任何一个成员双重感染引起的一种破坏性玉米病毒病。MLND 的管理需要有效的耐药性筛查和监测工具。在这项研究中，我们报告了使用小 RNA (sRNA) 分析来检测 MLND 致病病毒，并进一步开发用于常规监测致病病毒的替代检测标记。源自 MCMV、甘蔗花叶病毒 (SCMV)、玉米条纹病毒 (MSV)、玉米相关全病毒 (MATV) 和玉米黄花叶病毒 (MYMV) 五种病毒的小 RNA (sRNA) 从 MLND 收集的受感染玉米样本中组装而成肯尼亚的热点。使用定量实时 PCR 进一步验证了已鉴定病毒域的表达。还从高度表达的域中开发了用于检测某些 MLND 致病病毒的新标记，并用于检测玉米和替代宿主中的 MLND 致病病毒。这些发现进一步证明了在检测 MLND 致病病毒中使用 sRNA 的潜力，尤其是来自高度表达的病毒基序。我们报告了用于检测东非最常见的 MLND 致病病毒 MCMV 和 SCMV 的新引物组的验证。这些发现进一步证明了在检测 MLND 致病病毒中使用 sRNA 的潜力，尤其是来自高度表达的病毒基序。我们报告了用于检测东非最常见的 MLND 致病病毒 MCMV 和 SCMV 的新引物组的验证。这些发现进一步证明了在检测 MLND 致病病毒中使用 sRNA 的潜力，尤其是来自高度表达的病毒基序。我们报告了用于检测东非最常见的 MLND 致病病毒 MCMV 和 SCMV 的新引物组的验证。