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Viroid

A viroid is a subviral pathogen consisting of a small, circular, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecule that infects plants and replicates autonomously within host cells using the host's enzymatic machinery, without encoding any proteins or possessing a protein capsid.^[1] Discovered in 1971 by Theodor O. Diener while investigating a mysterious disease in potatoes, viroids represent the smallest known independently replicating infectious agents and were recognized as a novel category of pathogens by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, extending the known biosphere beyond cells and viruses.^[2] Viroid genomes are highly structured, typically ranging from 246 to 401 nucleotides in length, and fold into compact rod-like or branched conformations that facilitate their stability and function.^[2] They are classified into two families: Pospiviroidae, which includes 39 species that replicate in the nucleus using host RNA polymerase II and lack ribozyme activity, and Avsunviroidae, comprising 5 species that replicate in chloroplasts with self-cleaving ribozymes and use nuclear-encoded polymerase.^[1] As of 2024, 44 viroid species are formally recognized, all exclusively infecting plants, including economically vital crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, citrus, avocados, and ornamentals like chrysanthemums.^[1]^[3] Viroids enter host cells through mechanical damage and exploit host polymerases for replication via an RNA-templated rolling-circle mechanism, producing multimeric intermediates that are processed into unit-length circles.^[1] Their pathogenesis often involves interference with host gene expression, RNA silencing pathways, or developmental processes, leading to symptoms ranging from stunting and malformations to lethal decline.^[3] Notable examples include potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), which causes tuber deformation and yield losses in potatoes; citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), inducing bark scaling and dwarfing in citrus; and avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBVd), resulting in scarred fruit and reduced yields in avocados.^[3] These diseases inflict substantial economic impacts, with global losses estimated in billions of dollars annually due to reduced crop productivity, costly eradication efforts, and trade restrictions on infected planting material.^[4]^[3] Beyond their role as plant pathogens, viroids have provided profound insights into RNA biology, including the catalytic potential of RNA and possible evolutionary links to an ancient RNA world, where naked RNA molecules may have preceded modern cellular life.^[2] Control strategies rely on exclusion, certification of disease-free stock, and quarantine, as no curative treatments exist, underscoring their ongoing threat to global agriculture.^[3]

Discovery and History

Initial Discovery

The potato spindle tuber disease, first reported in 1922, had long been attributed to a viral pathogen due to its transmissible nature and symptomology, including elongated and cracked tubers in affected plants. In 1971, Theodor O. Diener, a plant pathologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland, identified the causal agent as a novel entity distinct from conventional viruses. Through extensive purification efforts, Diener isolated a low-molecular-weight RNA fraction from infected tomato and potato tissues that retained full infectivity despite the absence of detectable protein or viral particles.^[5] Diener's pivotal experiments demonstrated the infectivity of this purified RNA. He mechanically inoculated healthy tomato plants (as a more sensitive bioassay host) and potato plants with the RNA preparation, observing characteristic symptoms such as severe stunting, epinasty, and leaf chlorosis in tomatoes within weeks, and spindle tuber formation in potatoes after several months. These results, obtained using gel electrophoresis and enzymatic assays to confirm the RNA's purity and small size (about one-fiftieth the size of the smallest known virus), ruled out conventional viral involvement and highlighted the agent's unusual properties. By 1972, additional assays confirmed its autonomous replication and stability as a circular RNA molecule.^[5] In 1972, Diener formally proposed the term "viroid" to designate this new class of pathogens—small, naked, circular RNAs capable of inducing disease without encoding proteins or requiring a capsid.^[6] This nomenclature distinguished viroids from viruses and emphasized their unique biological role, laying the foundation for recognizing them as the smallest known infectious agents.

Key Milestones and Research Advances

A pivotal advancement in viroid research occurred in 1978 when Heinz Jürgen Gross and colleagues determined the complete nucleotide sequence of potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), revealing it as a covalently closed circular RNA comprising 359 nucleotides that folds into a rod-like secondary structure.^[7] This sequencing effort not only confirmed the non-protein-coding nature of viroids but also provided the first detailed insight into their minimalistic genomic architecture, setting the stage for comparative analyses. In the 1980s, the identification and characterization of additional viroids expanded the known diversity, with the nucleotide sequence of citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) being elucidated in 1982 as a 371-nucleotide circular RNA exhibiting a similar rod-like conformation.^[8] Concurrently, advancements in in vitro transcription studies demonstrated that viroid RNA could serve as a template for RNA-dependent RNA polymerases from host plants, enabling the synthesis of full-length complementary strands and shedding light on autonomous replication mechanisms without viral proteins.^[9] The 1990s and 2000s saw significant progress in viroid taxonomy through the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), which adopted the first formal classification scheme in 1991, establishing the family Pospiviroidae to encompass viroids with nuclear replication and a central conserved region in their rod-like genomes.^[10] This framework evolved over the decades, incorporating phylogenetic analyses to delineate genera such as Pospiviroid and Apscaviroid based on sequence similarities and host ranges, facilitating a structured understanding of viroid evolution. In the 2010s, structural investigations advanced with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and computational modeling confirming the thermodynamic stability of the rod-like secondary structures in viroids like PSTVd, highlighting key base-pairing motifs essential for replication and host interaction.^[11] These studies refined models of viroid conformation under physiological conditions, bridging early predictions with high-resolution data. Theodor O. Diener, the discoverer of viroids, passed away on March 28, 2023, at the age of 102, leaving a profound legacy in plant pathology and RNA biology.^[12] Post-2020 research leveraging metagenomic approaches has uncovered substantial viroid diversity in non-cultivated plants, identifying novel variants and viroid-like circular RNAs in wild and environmental samples through high-throughput sequencing of uncultured viromes.^[13] Such efforts, including surveys of weed and prairie plant communities, have revealed previously undetected lineages, emphasizing viroids' broader ecological roles beyond agricultural hosts.^[14]

Structure and Molecular Properties

RNA Composition and Configuration

Viroids are composed exclusively of single-stranded, covalently closed circular RNA molecules that do not encode proteins and lack open reading frames.^[15] These non-coding RNAs range in size from 246 to 434 nucleotides, making them the smallest known autonomously replicating pathogens.^[16] The circular configuration arises from phosphodiester bonds linking the 5' and 3' ends, rendering the molecule resistant to exonucleolytic degradation and enabling its stable propagation within host cells.^[17] The RNA sequence exhibits extensive intramolecular base-pairing, predominantly forming G-C and A-U pairs, which results in a highly ordered secondary structure.^[18] In its native state, this folding yields a compact, rod-like conformation approximately 50 nm in length and 2 nm in diameter, akin to a quasi-continuous double helix.^[15] This rod-shaped architecture enhances thermodynamic stability, exhibiting melting temperatures typically around 50°C, and protects the RNA from endonucleolytic cleavage by RNases.^[19] For instance, the potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), at 359 nucleotides, exemplifies this structure, while the coconut cadang-cadang viroid (CCCVd), the smallest known at 246 nucleotides, maintains a similar rod-like form despite its reduced length.^[20]^[21] Although the mature infectious form is always a monomeric circle, replication intermediates can include linear or multimeric variants that are processed into circles by host or viroid-encoded ribozymes.^[22] This structural versatility underscores the RNA's adaptability, yet the circular monomer predominates in infected tissues due to its superior stability.^[18]

Genome Organization and Features

Viroids possess compact, circular, single-stranded RNA genomes ranging from 246 to 434 nucleotides in length, lacking open reading frames and thus encoding no proteins.^[22] Instead, these non-coding RNAs function through their secondary structures and sequence motifs, serving as scaffolds that hijack host polymerases for replication.^[23] The genomes are organized into distinct functional domains that regulate replication initiation, processing, host specificity, and pathogenicity, with variations between the two viroid families. In the family Pospiviroidae, which replicates in the nucleus, the genome folds into a rod-like structure comprising five primary domains: the terminal left (TL), central (C), terminal right (TR), variable (V), and pathogenicity (P) domains.^[22] The central conserved region (CCR), located within the C domain, is a hallmark feature conserved across most Pospiviroidae species and serves as a critical site for replication initiation and processing, often featuring a specific cleavage site such as G95-G96 in potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd).^[24] The TL and TR domains contribute to host specificity and trafficking, with motifs like loop 24 in the TR domain facilitating movement within the plant.^[22] Meanwhile, the V domain exhibits high sequence variability, influencing host range and symptom severity, while the P domain modulates pathogenicity through elements like the variable motif (VM) region, whose thermal instability correlates with virulence in hosts such as tomato.^[22] These domains enable the viroid RNA to interact with host DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II, redirecting it for RNA-templated synthesis without encoding any viral enzymes.^[23] Members of the family Avsunviroidae, which replicate in chloroplasts, display a similar circular genome organization but lack a CCR and instead incorporate hammerhead ribozymes in both the TL and TR domains to enable self-cleavage during multimeric processing.^[23] These ribozymes, conserved across the family, catalyze site-specific hydrolysis under physiological conditions, as exemplified by avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBVd), where the hammerhead structures in both polarities ensure precise maturation of the circular monomers from rolling-circle replication intermediates.^[25] The terminal and variable regions in Avsunviroidae similarly govern host interactions, with sequence motifs promoting specificity to certain plants and contributing to pathogenic outcomes.^[22] Field isolates of viroids often exist as quasi-species populations, characterized by low-level sequence variations—typically 1–10 nucleotide differences—that arise during replication and can affect fitness, host adaptation, and symptom expression without altering the core domain functions.^[22] For instance, PSTVd variants from diverse geographic sources show such polymorphisms, underscoring the evolutionary plasticity of these minimal genomes.^[23]

Taxonomy and Classification

Families and Genera

Viroids are classified into two families by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV): Pospiviroidae and Avsunviroidae.^[26] The family Pospiviroidae encompasses five genera—Apscaviroid, Cocadviroid, Coleviroid, Hostuviroid, and Pospiviroid—containing 40 species.^[27] These viroids feature single-stranded, circular RNA genomes ranging from 246 to 375 nucleotides in length, which fold into rod-like or quasi-rod-like secondary structures characterized by a linear central conserved region (CCR), along with terminal conserved regions (TCR) or hairpins (TCH) in some genera.^[28] Replication occurs in the host cell nucleus through an asymmetric rolling-circle mechanism mediated by host RNA polymerase II, with processing involving type-III RNase and circularization by DNA ligase 1.^[28] Host ranges are broad, primarily targeting dicotyledonous plants such as those in the Solanaceae, but extending to some monocots and woody species like citrus and avocado.^[28] The family Avsunviroidae includes three genera—Avsunviroid, Elaviroid, and Pelamoviroid—with a total of five species. Genomes in this family measure 246 to 434 nucleotides and exhibit rod-like, quasi-rod-like, or branched secondary structures, distinguished by the presence of hammerhead ribozymes in both polarities that enable self-cleavage during replication. Unlike Pospiviroidae, replication proceeds via a symmetric rolling-circle mechanism in the chloroplasts, utilizing a nuclear-encoded chloroplastic RNA polymerase. Hosts are dicotyledonous angiosperms with narrow ranges, often limited to specific or closely related species.^[29] Classification within these families relies on key criteria: genome size (typically 250–400 nucleotides across viroids), distinctive secondary structure elements (e.g., linear CCR in Pospiviroidae versus branched conformations with catalytic ribozymes in Avsunviroidae), replication strategy (nuclear asymmetry versus chloroplastic symmetry), and host range preferences (broader in Pospiviroidae, narrower in Avsunviroidae).^[28] Together, the two families comprise 45 species as of the 2025 ICTV taxonomy release, reflecting ongoing refinements from molecular characterizations.^[30]

Phylogenetic Relationships

Phylogenetic analyses of viroids rely heavily on sequence alignments of conserved structural elements, such as the central conserved region (CCR) in Pospiviroidae members or the hammerhead ribozyme domains in Avsunviroidae, to infer evolutionary relationships. These alignments, often processed using methods like ClustalW followed by neighbor-joining in software such as MEGA, construct trees that highlight a profound divergence between the two families, with bootstrap support values typically exceeding 95% for major branches separating nuclear-replicating Pospiviroidae from chloroplast-replicating Avsunviroidae.^[10] Within each family, intrafamily clades emerge that frequently align with host plant preferences; for instance, in Pospiviroidae, the Pospiviroid genus clusters viroids primarily infecting solanaceous plants like potato and tomato, while Cocadviroid genus shows association with monocots such as coconut, and Apscaviroid genus with dicots such as grapevine and apple, supported by bootstrap values over 90%. Similarly, Avsunviroidae clades, including Pelamoviroid and Avsunviroid genera, correlate with hosts such as Rosaceae (peach, apple), Asteraceae (chrysanthemum), and Lauraceae (avocado).^[10]^[29] Recombination events further shape viroid evolution, as evidenced by chimeric sequences in species like tomato planta macho viroid (TPMVd), which exhibits mosaic patterns derived from recombination with potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) in the left terminal and central regions, detectable through similarity plots and phylogenetic incongruences across genomic domains. Such inter-viroid recombinations, also observed in coleviroids like citrus bark cracking viroid variants, indicate horizontal gene transfer as a driver of diversity within host-specific clades.^[10] The remarkable sequence conservation in CCR motifs across viroid taxa, with identities often above 70% despite divergence times estimated in the millions of years, points to ancient origins predating the diversification of angiosperms. This stability under purifying selection underscores viroids' persistence as minimal replicators.^[10] In broader comparisons, phylogenetic trees incorporating full-genome alignments place viroids closer to viroid-like satellite RNAs—such as those dependent on helper viruses in viroplasms—than to protein-coding viral RNAs, with maximum parsimony and distance-based analyses yielding bootstrap supports greater than 90% for this clustering, distinguishing viroids by their non-encapsidated, autonomous circular forms.

Replication and Transmission

Intracellular Replication Mechanisms

Viroids replicate intracellularly through an RNA-templated rolling-circle mechanism that exploits host cellular machinery for transcription, without encoding any proteins of their own. This process generates multimeric RNA intermediates from the circular viroid genome, which are subsequently processed into mature circular forms. Replication occurs in distinct cellular compartments depending on the viroid family: the nucleus for Pospiviroidae and the chloroplasts for Avsunviroidae. The mechanism relies entirely on host DNA-dependent RNA polymerases and associated factors, leading to high levels of amplification with thousands of viroid copies accumulating per infected cell.^[31]^[32] In the Pospiviroidae family, replication follows an asymmetric rolling-circle pathway in the host nucleus, initiated by host RNA polymerase II (Pol II). Transcription begins at the central conserved region (CCR), which serves as an RNA promoter recognized by host transcription factor TFIIIA and Pol II, producing oligomeric negative-sense (-) RNAs from the circular positive-sense (+) viroid RNA template. These (-) multimers are then transcribed back into oligomeric (+) RNAs. Processing of the multimers involves cleavage by host type III endoribonucleases, such as those generating 5'-phosphomonoester and 3'-hydroxyl termini, followed by ligation via host DNA ligase 1 to yield unit-length circular progeny. This nuclear localization and Pol II dependency highlight the viroids' mimicry of host RNA polymerase III transcripts or other non-coding RNAs.^[31]^[33] Members of the Avsunviroidae family employ a symmetric rolling-circle mechanism in the chloroplasts, utilizing a nuclear-encoded plastid RNA polymerase (NEP) for transcription. Starting from the circular (+) RNA, NEP generates oligomeric (-) RNAs, which are self-cleaved by inherent hammerhead ribozymes into unit-length linear forms and ligated by a chloroplastic tRNA ligase to produce circular (-) RNAs. These, in turn, serve as templates for transcription into oligomeric (+) RNAs, again processed by hammerhead ribozymes and ligated similarly. Unlike Pospiviroidae, Avsunviroidae lack a CCR and instead rely on specific initiation sites within their rod-like secondary structure for polymerase binding, enabling efficient replication in the organellar environment without host nuclease involvement.^[31]^[33]

Pathways of Spread and Infection

Viroids are primarily transmitted mechanically through direct contact with infected plant tissues or contaminated tools, such as pruning shears used in potato fields, which facilitate the spread of sap containing viroid RNA from infected to healthy plants.^[34] This mode of transmission is highly efficient in agricultural settings, where human activities like grafting or handling exacerbate dissemination, particularly for species like the potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd).^[35] In addition, certain viroids, such as the tomato apical stunt viroid, can be transmitted via seeds and pollen, allowing vertical spread from infected parent plants to progeny; transmission rates vary widely depending on the viroid, host, and conditions, with experimental rates for TASVd in tomatoes reaching up to 80%, though natural rates are often lower.^[36]^[37] Natural spread occurs without vectors, relying on plant vascular systems for movement within the host. Locally, viroids traffic cell-to-cell through plasmodesmata, specialized channels connecting adjacent plant cells, enabling initial infection to expand from the entry point.^[38] Systemically, they are transported long-distance via the phloem, the conductive tissue for nutrients, reaching distant sinks like growing tips or roots and establishing widespread infection throughout the plant.^[38] Unlike many plant viruses, no insect vectors have been confirmed for natural viroid transmission, distinguishing their epidemiology from vector-mediated viral diseases.^[39] Experimental inoculations demonstrate the high infectivity of viroids, with systemic symptoms appearing in susceptible hosts 4-6 weeks after exposure to minute quantities of purified viroid RNA, underscoring their potential for rapid establishment following mechanical introduction.^[40] This low threshold, often achievable with nanogram-scale doses, highlights the role of replication in amplifying the initial inoculum for full infection.^[41]

Pathogenesis and Host Interactions

Disease Symptoms and Economic Impact

Viroids induce a range of symptoms in infected plants, primarily affecting growth, morphology, and productivity, with manifestations varying by viroid species, host plant, strain severity, and environmental conditions. Common symptoms include stunted growth, leaf chlorosis (yellowing), deformation of fruits or tubers, and in severe cases, necrosis or plant death. These effects arise from disruptions in host metabolism and development, leading to reduced vigor and quality. For instance, in solanaceous crops like potatoes and tomatoes, symptoms often appear as upright and brittle leaves, epinasty (downward leaf curling), and distorted growth patterns.^[3]^[42] The potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) exemplifies these impacts in potatoes, causing stunted plants with small, rough leaves and elongated, spindle-shaped tubers that exhibit cracking or swelling, resulting in yield losses of 20-65% depending on the strain and cultivar. In tomatoes, PSTVd infection leads to chlorosis in the upper leaves, overall stunting, and fruit deformation, with reported yield reductions of 40-50%. Similarly, the coconut cadang-cadang viroid (CCCVd) in coconut palms produces progressive yellowing and brittleness of leaflets, inflorescence necrosis, and eventual tree death, with symptoms advancing over 8-16 years from initial infection and contributing to mortality rates exceeding 30 million trees in the Philippines since the 1920s. In citrus, viroids such as citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) cause bark cracking, tree dwarfing, and reduced fruit quality, with yield losses reaching up to 50% in sensitive rootstocks.^[43]^[44]^[45]^[46] The economic consequences of viroid infections are substantial, with global agricultural losses estimated in the billions annually due to reduced yields, lower crop quality, and associated management costs. PSTVd alone has historically caused significant declines in potato production, prompting strict quarantine measures in regions like the European Union and the United States since the 1980s to prevent spread through contaminated seed tubers. CCCVd has inflicted over $300 million in potential losses in the Philippines, where it affects subsistence and commercial coconut farming critical to local economies. Citrus viroids impact global orange and other fruit production, leading to quarantine restrictions and the need for viroid-free propagation material, exacerbating costs in major exporting countries. These impacts extend to trade barriers and certification requirements, underscoring viroids as quarantine pests worldwide.^[4]^[42]^[47]^[48] Viroid infections often feature latency periods before symptoms emerge, ranging from 2-12 months or longer, influenced by the viroid-host combination and environmental factors; for example, PSTVd in tomatoes may show initial signs after 4-5 weeks, while CCCVd in coconuts can remain asymptomatic for 2-4 years before early symptoms appear. This latency complicates early detection and amplifies economic damage through inadvertent spread via asymptomatic plants.^[49]^[50]^[45]

Molecular Basis of Pathogenicity

Viroids exert pathogenicity primarily through direct interactions of their RNA genomes with host cellular components, without encoding any proteins. These interactions disrupt normal host gene expression and metabolic processes, leading to disease symptoms such as stunting and chlorosis. For instance, viroid RNA can engage in RNA-RNA interactions that sequester or interfere with host RNAs essential for cellular functions. In nuclear-replicating viroids like those in the Pospiviroidae family, the viroid RNA associates with host small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), such as U1 snRNA, potentially altering pre-mRNA splicing and contributing to pathogenesis.^[51] Similarly, interactions with 7S RNA may disrupt protein import into the endoplasmic reticulum, while associations with ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) can impede rRNA maturation and processing in the nucleus or chloroplasts, as seen in Avsunviroidae family members that replicate in chloroplasts.^[51] A key mechanism involves RNA-protein interactions where viroid RNA sequesters host factors, diverting them from their physiological roles. The left-terminal domain of potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) RNA binds to the host transcription factor IIIA (TFIIIA), a zinc-finger protein involved in 5S rRNA gene transcription, thereby potentially reducing its availability for normal cellular transcription and promoting viroid replication.^[52] This sequestration exemplifies how viroids hijack host transcription machinery. Additionally, viroid infection alters hormone signaling pathways; for example, PSTVd downregulates genes in gibberellin and jasmonic acid biosynthesis, disrupting growth regulation and stress responses that manifest as altered plant development.^[51] Viroid-derived small interfering RNAs (vd-sRNAs) further contribute to pathogenicity by dysregulating host gene expression, often inducing oxidative stress. These vd-sRNAs, produced via host RNA silencing pathways, target host mRNAs such as those encoding chlorophyllide a oxygenase (CAO) or magnesium chelatase subunit I (CHLI), leading to impaired chlorophyll synthesis and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that damage cellular components.^[51] Host-specific pathogenicity determinants, particularly mutations in the viroid's variable (V) region, modulate symptom severity. In PSTVd, strains differing by only a few nucleotides in the V domain—such as mild strains with specific base changes versus severe strains—elicit varying degrees of symptom intensity in tomato hosts, with severe variants causing more pronounced stunting due to enhanced disruption of host metabolism.^[53] These sequence variations influence viroid stability, replication efficiency, and interaction affinity with host factors.^[54]

Host Defense Mechanisms

RNA Silencing Responses

Plants respond to viroid infection through RNA silencing, a conserved defense mechanism that generates viroid-derived small interfering RNAs (vdsiRNAs) to target and degrade the invading nucleic acids. These vdsiRNAs, typically 21-24 nucleotides in length, are produced by host Dicer-like (DCL) enzymes, such as DCL2, DCL3, and DCL4, which cleave double-stranded RNA intermediates formed during viroid replication.^[55] For instance, in grapevine infected with hop stunt viroid (HSVd), vdsiRNAs predominantly of 21, 22, and 24 nt sizes derive from specific hotspots covering about 20% of the viroid genome, indicating targeted processing by multiple DCLs.^[55] This process activates both post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) and transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) pathways, limiting viroid accumulation and spread.^[56] In the PTGS pathway, vdsiRNAs are loaded into Argonaute (AGO) proteins, such as AGO1 and AGO2, within RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISC) to mediate sequence-specific cleavage of complementary viroid RNAs, thereby reducing their levels in infected cells.^[56] Experimental evidence from Nicotiana benthamiana shows that DCL2 and DCL3 are essential for this defense against potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), with knockdown leading to increased viroid titers.^[56] The TGS pathway involves vdsiRNAs directing RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDRs) and DNA methyltransferases to induce cytosine methylation of viroid-complementary DNA or host chromatin, silencing transcription at affected loci.^[57] PSTVd, for example, triggers methylation of transgenes in tobacco, mimicking endogenous gene silencing.^[56] Beyond direct antiviral effects, vdsiRNAs can off-target host mRNAs, contributing to pathogenesis by modulating plant gene expression. In tomato infected with PSTVd, certain vdsiRNAs target the FRIGIDA-like protein 3 (FRL3) gene, downregulating it and inducing premature flowering as a symptom of infection.^[58] Similarly, degradome analysis in tomato and N. benthamiana reveals vdsiRNAs from potato spindle tuber viroid cleaving host transcripts involved in metabolism and stress responses, altering cellular homeostasis.^[59] These interactions highlight how host defenses inadvertently exacerbate disease symptoms through unintended gene silencing.^[57] The intensity of RNA silencing responses varies among host genotypes, with stronger vdsiRNA production correlating to resistance and eventual recovery from infection. In tolerant tomato cultivars like 'Moneymaker', robust DCL2- and DCL4-mediated silencing maintains low PSTVd levels and mild symptoms, but RNAi knockdown of these enzymes shifts the response to lethal necrosis, accompanied by reduced 21- and 22-nt vdsiRNAs. A 2024 study further showed that knockout of the SlDCL2b isoform in tomato increases susceptibility to PSTVd, with higher viroid accumulation and altered vdsiRNA profiles (21 nt increased, 22 nt decreased), underscoring its role in resistance.^[60]^[61] Resistant tomato lines engineered with PSTVd inverted repeats exhibit elevated vdsiRNA accumulation, conferring near-complete protection against infection.^[56] This genotypic variation underscores RNA silencing as a key determinant of viroid susceptibility.^[62]

Viroid Evasion Strategies

Viroids have evolved structural adaptations to evade detection and degradation by the host RNA silencing machinery. Their characteristic rod-like secondary structure, formed by extensive intramolecular base-pairing, limits the length of perfectly paired double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) regions to fewer than 19 base pairs, thereby avoiding efficient recognition and cleavage by Dicer-like (DCL) enzymes that require longer dsRNA substrates to generate small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). This conformation effectively conceals potential silencing triggers during replication, where viroid RNAs are transcribed as linear multimers that are processed into circular monomers without exposing extended dsRNA intermediates. Additionally, the compact structure confers resistance to slicing by the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), as demonstrated in experiments with Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), where mature viroid RNA persisted despite the presence of viroid-derived siRNAs (vdsiRNAs) capable of guiding RISC.^[63]^[64] Complementing structural evasion, viroids exploit rapid intracellular replication to outpace the host silencing response. Utilizing host RNA polymerases, viroids undergo rolling-circle replication that produces high levels of progeny RNA quickly, overwhelming the slower kinetics of DCL processing and RISC assembly. This temporal strategy ensures viroid accumulation before silencing can fully curtail infection, as observed in systems where viroid titers remain high even in the presence of induced vdsiRNAs. For instance, PSTVd replication in tomato and tobacco protoplasts proceeds unabated despite synthetic vdsiRNAs or dsRNAs targeting the viroid, highlighting how proliferative speed maintains infectivity.^[63]^[64] Although viroids lack the protein-based suppressors common in viruses, certain viroid sequences generate vdsiRNAs that indirectly suppress silencing by targeting host components essential for the pathway. These vdsiRNAs can silence genes encoding RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDRs), such as RDR1 and RDR6, which amplify antiviral siRNAs, thereby reducing the overall silencing potency and promoting viroid overaccumulation. In PSTVd infections, vdsiRNAs preferentially derive from the viroid's terminal domains and retarget host transcripts to non-essential genes, diverting silencing resources away from the viroid itself and allowing persistence in otherwise silenced hosts. Recombination events contribute to viroid evolution by generating sequence variants in natural populations, such as those of PSTVd.^[65]^[66]

Control and Management

Detection and Diagnostic Techniques

Detection of viroids relies on a combination of molecular, biological, and advanced sequencing techniques to identify these small, non-protein-coding RNAs in infected plant tissues. Molecular methods, such as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), provide high sensitivity and specificity for targeted detection. RT-PCR amplifies viroid-specific cDNA from extracted RNA, enabling identification in various hosts like grapevines and citrus, with detection limits as low as 1 fg to 10 ng of viroid RNA depending on the species and assay optimization.^[67] This technique is widely used in certification programs due to its rapidity and ability to process multiple samples, though it requires RNA extraction and specialized equipment.^[68] Northern blotting serves as a confirmatory method for viroid detection by separating and hybridizing total RNA to visualize the characteristic circular or linear forms based on size, typically around 250-400 nucleotides. It has been applied to detect viroids such as Eggplant latent viroid, offering reliable confirmation of RNA identity but with lower sensitivity, requiring at least 8-12 mg of fresh tissue for specific hybridization.^[69] While less common in routine diagnostics due to its time-consuming nature and need for radioactive or non-radioactive probes, it remains valuable for validating ambiguous results from amplification assays.^[68] Isothermal amplification techniques, like reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), facilitate rapid field detection without thermal cycling equipment. RT-LAMP targets viroids such as Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) and Potato spindle tuber viroid using multiple primers for high specificity, achieving detection limits around 236 pg of RNA extract in under 60 minutes.^[70] Its portability, using devices like the Genie III for real-time fluorescence monitoring, makes it suitable for on-site surveys in orchards, though it is approximately ten-fold less sensitive than quantitative RT-PCR.^[70]^[68] Emerging CRISPR-Cas-based diagnostics offer high specificity and rapidity for viroid detection, particularly in resource-limited settings. For instance, reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification combined with CRISPR-Cas12a (RT-RAA-CRISPR/Cas12a) enables isothermal detection of six major pospiviroids affecting Solanaceae crops, with sensitivity comparable to RT-PCR and results visible within 30-60 minutes via lateral flow assays.^[71] These methods, developed as of 2024, enhance field applicability by requiring minimal equipment and have been validated for pathogens like Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd). Biological assays, including mechanical indexing on indicator plants, offer a traditional, low-tech approach to confirm viroid infectivity through symptom observation. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivars, such as Rutgers or Cherry 154, serve as sensitive indicators for viroids like Potato spindle tuber viroid and Columnea latent viroid, where mechanical sap inoculation induces symptoms like stunting or epinasty within weeks to months.^[3]^[72] These bioassays are essential for quarantine and certification but are limited by their subjectivity, long incubation periods, and host-specificity.^[68] ELISA-based variants, such as RT-PCR-ELISA, detect viroid-protein complexes in hosts like apple for Apple dimple fruit viroid, providing quantifiable results but are less prevalent due to setup complexity.^[68] Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) metagenomics enable unbiased detection of viroids in complex infections, identifying known agents like Tomato apical stunt viroid alongside novel ones without prior sequence knowledge. Approaches such as small RNA (sRNA) sequencing excel in viroid discovery due to host RNA silencing responses, successfully profiling mixed infections in surveys of crops like tomato and hop since the 2010s, with broader adoption in 2020s epidemiological studies for comprehensive virome analysis.^[73] While computationally intensive and costly, NGS has revolutionized detection in diverse plant samples, supporting global monitoring efforts.^[73]^[68]

Prevention and Eradication Strategies

Prevention of viroid infections in agriculture relies heavily on cultural practices that minimize mechanical transmission and ensure the use of pathogen-free planting material. Certified seed stock programs are essential, as they involve rigorous testing of seed tubers to confirm freedom from viroids like Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), thereby preventing introduction into new fields.^[74] Tool disinfection is a critical measure, with 10-20% household bleach solutions (0.5-1% sodium hypochlorite) proven effective against viroid transmission during pruning and handling, deactivating the RNA pathogens on contaminated surfaces and equipment.^[75] Rogueing, or the systematic removal and destruction of infected plants including roots and rhizomes, limits spread in crops such as hops affected by Hop latent viroid, often combined with soil treatments like urea and chloropicrin to eradicate reservoirs.^[76] Thermotherapy combined with meristem culture offers a method to eradicate viroids from infected stock for propagation. Plants are exposed to elevated temperatures, typically around 37°C for several weeks to three months, which inhibits viroid replication, followed by excision and in vitro culture of meristem tips (0.1-0.3 mm) that exclude the pathogen due to its absence in rapidly dividing apical tissues; this approach has successfully produced viroid-free citrus and hop plants.^[77]^[78] Biological control strategies leverage host RNA interference (RNAi) pathways through transgenic approaches. In potatoes, expression of artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) or hairpin RNAs (hpRNAs) targeting viroid sequences, such as those from PSTVd, induces silencing that reduces viroid accumulation and symptom severity in infected plants.^[79]^[80] Recent advances include CRISPR-Cas13a gene-editing systems, which target and cleave viroid RNAs directly in host plants; as demonstrated in 2024 studies, stable expression of Cas13a with guide RNAs specific to PSTVd confers resistance in potato plants by degrading viroid genomes without off-target effects on host transcripts.^[81] Regulatory measures, including quarantine laws, further restrict spread; for instance, the USDA enforces federal orders banning importation of tomato and potato materials carrying pospiviroids like PSTVd to prevent establishment in the U.S.^[82] Chemical control options for viroids are limited, as no targeted virucides exist due to their non-proteinaceous nature, making them unresponsive to typical antiviral agents. Instead, integrated pest management (IPM) emphasizes sanitation practices—such as certified stock, tool disinfection, and rogueing—to significantly reduce viroid incidence in controlled crops, often achieving substantial decreases through consistent application.^[3] Detection techniques can confirm infection status prior to implementing these strategies.^[35]

Viroid-Like RNAs and Satellites

Viroid-like satellite RNAs (Vd-LsatRNAs) are small, circular, single-stranded RNAs that exhibit structural and functional similarities to viroids but are non-autonomous, relying on a helper virus for replication, systemic movement, and transmission in host plants. These RNAs typically range from 220 to 450 nucleotides in length and often feature self-cleaving hammerhead ribozymes that facilitate processing of replication intermediates into monomeric circles via a rolling-circle mechanism. Unlike true viroids, Vd-LsatRNAs do not encode proteins and can modulate the symptoms induced by their helper virus, sometimes attenuating or exacerbating disease severity. A representative example is the viroid-like satellite RNA associated with peanut stunt virus (PSV), a strain of cucumber mosaic virus, which shares sequence homologies with viroids and contains motifs enabling autocatalytic cleavage, contributing to its replication dependent on the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.^[83]^[84]^[85] Ambiviruses represent a class of viroid-like elements primarily infecting fungi, characterized by circular, single-stranded RNA genomes that encode their own RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) for autonomous replication. These circular RNAs, despite their name suggesting ambiguity in classification, replicate through a symmetric rolling-circle mechanism, producing multimeric intermediates that are cleaved by embedded ribozymes, such as hammerhead or twister types, to yield unit-length circles. Unlike plant viroids, ambiviruses integrate viral protein-coding capacity with viroid-like replication strategies, potentially occurring in cytoplasmic compartments, and have been identified in diverse fungal pathogens through metatranscriptomic surveys. Their discovery highlights hybrid entities bridging viroids and viruses, with implications for fungal disease dynamics.^[86]^[87]^[88] Retroviroids, or retroviroid-like elements, are circular RNAs that mimic viroids in structure and size but incorporate a reverse transcription step in their replication cycle, often in fungal or plant hosts. These elements generate a DNA intermediate using a host- or virus-encoded reverse transcriptase, which can integrate into the host genome or serve as a template for RNA synthesis, distinguishing them from purely RNA-based viroid replication. In fungi, retroviroid-like RNAs, sometimes termed retrozymes, are processed into circles and reverse-transcribed by elements akin to Ty3-like retrotransposons, enabling persistent infection without overt symptoms. This mechanism expands the evolutionary repertoire of subviral pathogens, linking RNA circles to retroelement biology.^[14]^[89]^[90] Obelisks comprise a recently discovered family of viroid-like, circular RNAs inhabiting prokaryotic hosts, particularly bacteria in human microbiomes such as Prevotella species. These elements feature compact genomes of approximately 1 kilobase, folding into rod-like secondary structures, and uniquely encode one or more proteins from a novel superfamily termed Oblins, which may function in replication or host interaction. Identified through metagenomic analyses in 2024, obelisks replicate via strategies reminiscent of viroids, potentially involving host polymerases, but occur exclusively in prokaryotes, marking a departure from the eukaryotic dominance of known viroid relatives. Their global distribution in diverse bacterial niches underscores their ecological prevalence and potential role in microbiome stability.^[91]

Role in RNA World Hypothesis

Viroids have been proposed as potential relics of the hypothetical RNA world, a pre-cellular era where RNA molecules served both as genetic material and catalysts without the involvement of proteins or DNA.^[92] Their small size (246–401 nucleotides), circular structure, and non-coding nature position them as minimalistic self-replicating entities that mimic primitive RNA replicons capable of autonomous propagation in a protein-free environment.^[93] In this context, viroids exemplify how RNA could have sustained early life processes through intrinsic catalytic activities, such as the hammerhead ribozymes found in members of the Avsunviroidae family, which facilitate self-cleavage and ligation of RNA strands without requiring protein enzymes.^[92] This relic hypothesis suggests that viroids may descend from ancient RNA genomes that predated modern cellular machinery, potentially originating from the primordial soup where viroid-like replicons competed and evolved.^[93] Supporting evidence includes sequence and structural similarities between certain viroids, like potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), and group I introns, which are self-splicing RNA elements thought to be ancient remnants of the RNA world; these parallels indicate a possible common modular ancestry in RNA-based evolution. Such features imply that viroids could represent "living fossils" that have persisted by parasitizing host replication systems while retaining core RNA world traits, offering insights into how RNA replicons might have transitioned to more complex genetic systems.^[2] Viroids' remarkable stability in vitro, including resistance to nucleases and maintenance of circular conformation under harsh conditions, further bolsters their candidacy as survivors from early Earth environments, where unprotected RNA would have faced degradation.^[93] However, criticisms highlight limitations to direct ancestry claims: viroids exclusively infect angiosperms, which evolved relatively recently (about 140 million years ago), suggesting a post-LUCA origin rather than primordial roots, and they lack independent metabolism or true self-replication, relying on host DNA-dependent RNA polymerases.^[2] These dependencies temper the hypothesis, positioning viroids more as evolutionary echoes than unequivocal progenitors of life.^[93]

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