Next generation sequencing: a tool to discover novel plant viruses and viroids and to dissect their pathogenesis

Next generation sequencing (NGS) has strongly impacted the study of plant-virus and plant-viroid interactions. This technique, on the one hand, has allowed discovery of novel viruses and viroids, clarifying the etiology of several virus-like diseases and, on the other hand, dissected some steps of the molecular interplay between these infectious agents and their hosts. Contributions from our laboratory in both directions will be presented. In particular, the recent identification and characterization of novel RNA and DNA viruses in woody plants, and the dissection of the role of RNA silencing in viroid infections will be discussed.