Insights into the RNA Virome of the Corn Leafhopper Dalbulus maidis, a Major Emergent Threat of Maize in Latin America

Abstract

The maize leafhopper (Dalbulus maidis) is a significant threat to maize crops in tropical and subtropical regions, causing extensive economic losses. While its ecological interactions and control strategies are well studied, its associated viral diversity remains largely unexplored. Here, we employ high-throughput sequencing data mining to comprehensively characterize the D. maidis RNA virome, revealing novel and diverse RNA viruses. We characterized six new viral members belonging to distinct families, with evolutionary cues of beny-like viruses (Benyviridae), bunya-like viruses (Bunyaviridae) iflaviruses (Iflaviridae), orthomyxo-like viruses (Orthomyxoviridae), and rhabdoviruses (Rhabdoviridae). Phylogenetic analysis of the iflaviruses places them within the genus Iflavirus in affinity with other leafhopper-associated iflaviruses. The five-segmented and highly divergent orthomyxo-like virus showed a relationship with other insect associated orthomyxo-like viruses. The rhabdo virus is related to a leafhopper-associated rhabdo-like virus. Furthermore, the beny-like virus belonged to a cluster of insect-associated beny-like viruses, while the bi-segmented bunya-like virus was related with other bi-segmented insect-associated bunya-like viruses. These results highlight the existence of a complex virome linked to D. maidis and paves the way for future studies investigating the ecological roles, evolutionary dynamics, and potential biocontrol applications of these viruses on the D. maidis—maize pathosystem.