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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1540883
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Virus Dynamics in Farming Systems View all articles
Thrips and Plant Viruses: A Comprehensive Virome Analysis in Tropical Agriculture
Provisionally accepted
Qikai Zhang 1*
Chunxi Cheng 1
Baoqian Lyu 1
Yulin Gao 2 Lilin Chen 3 Liang Peng 1
政府 岳 1
Hui Lu 1 Jihong Tang 1 Bin Jiao 1
Shen Liu 1- 1 Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China
- 2 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 3 Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
Thrips are key vectors for plant viruses, representing a significant challenge to the cultivation of cucurbits and other vegetables in tropical agriculture. This study investigates the diversity of viromes carried by thrips and their ecological roles in viral epidemics affecting specific crops. We identify thrips populations in tropical regions and perform a comprehensive virome analysis through high-throughput sequencing. Our findings reveal that the predominant thrips species associated with these crops are Frankliniella intonsa, Thrips palmi, and Megalurothrips usitatus. The sequencing efforts identified 19 viruses within these thrips, including previously undocumented viruses, such as a double-stranded RNA virus and several positive-and negative-sense singlestranded RNA viruses. Notably, detection rates of specific plant viruses-Melon yellow spot virus (MYSV), Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV), and Telosma mosaic virus (TeMV)-exhibit significant correlations with thrips population density in cucurbits and other vegetables. This study lays the groundwork for future research into the ecological relationships between thrips and plant viruses, offering valuable insights for developing targeted disease management strategies in tropical agricultural systems.
Keywords: diversity, Ecological relationships, high-throughput sequencing, Plant virus transmission, Thrips vectors, virome
Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 12 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Cheng, Lyu, Gao, Chen, Peng, 岳, Lu, Tang, Jiao and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qikai Zhang, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China
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