Plant viruses are growing in the European virus archive network

The European Virus Archive - Global (EVA-Global; https://www.european-virus-archive.com/) is a non-profit organisation involving a global network with expertise in animal, human and - starting in 2020 - plant virology, consisting of more than 40 partner laboratories both based in EU member states and abroad. EVA-Global as part of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme's funding is conceived to be an open access entity aiming at facilitating and developing synergies between scientific and industrial community. The web-based catalogue (https://www.european-virus-archive.com/evag-portal), provides easy access for the end user to the collections including viruses, derived materials (nucleic acids, antisera, controls, infectious cDNA clones etc...) and services. The consortium ensures that the available materials meet the highest scientific standards in terms of safety, quality and characterization through the implementation by partners of a quality management system. While the property of the provided materials remains with the originators, specific EU funding provides the option for free-of-charge access to viral resources for public research institutions. Besides virus material and derived products cutting edge methodology for virus cultivation, preservation and analysis are available. The large number of viruses and isolates available through EVA-Global is crucial for preparedness, as amply demonstrated during the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Currently the plant virology section within EVA-Global is constituted by partners from France (ANSES, CIRAD, INRAE), Germany (DSMZ, JKI), Italy (CNR), Slovakia (BMC SAS) and South Africa (ARC). Up to now, approximately 300 plant virus isolates and derived products can be found in the web-based EVA-G Catalogue and are publicly available.