In vitro-transcribed Chrysanthemum stunt viroid RNA is infectious to chrysanthemum and other plants

Chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd), a noncoding RNA, is known to cause chrysanthemum stunt disease, which affects the yield of flowers. To gain insights into CSVd replication, infection, and the reasons for the spreading of CSVd disease in chrysanthemum plants, we prepared linear CSVd RNA and analyzed its ability to cause disease in chrysanthemum plants. We found that linear CSVd replicated as efficiently as CSVd RNA isolated from the infected chrysanthemum plants. Additionally, the linear CSVd RNA was evaluated for its ability to infect other plants as well, which revealed that CSVd has a wide host range for its replication. Importantly, the CSVd isolated from these hosts is infectious to chrysanthemum plants, and thus potentially contributes to the spreading of the disease to chrysanthemum plants.