[en] In a world where we rely so much on agriculture for our food, it is important to protect our crops from diseases. Large monocultures are particularly vulnerable to infection. Preventing these outbreaks is essential, and that means anticipating disease evolution and adaptation to stay one step ahead of the game. Viruses are especially deadly for several reasons. They can quickly spread across a population and are carried by insect vectors, many of which feed on the crops making infection easy. Secondly, they can readily evolve to become a new strain &ndash; a process known as recombination. A dedicated team of researchers from the Regional Goverment of Andalusia in Spain are tackling a particularly threatening recombination event, affecting bean crops in Spain. A virus called Lettuce chlorosis crinivirus, or LCV, has been introduced in Spain from California. The virus previously infected a lettuce via whiteflies. However, it is very genetically very similar to another virus named Bean Yellow Stunting Disorder Crinivirus, or BnYDV. Through sequencing, the researchers found that LCV genome recently incorporated part of the BnYDV genome, which has allowed it to also infect beans. Just as with invasive animal species, the new LCV virus is now out-competing the BnYDV virus in beans in Spain and has lost its ability to infect lettuce. This shows that plant viruses&nbsp; can "steal" genetic traits from anothers, potentially causing epidemics in new regions. This is an example of natural crossover recombination and could be a huge threat to farmers who will need to constabtly analyse and adapat their treatments in order to keep their produce safe.&nbsp; If researchers can identify these recombination events quickly, they can advise farmers on how to protect their crops.

[es] En un mundo donde dependemos tanto de la agricultura para alimentaci&oacute;n, es importante proteger nuestros cultivos de enfermedades. Las grandes extensiones de monocultivos son particularmente vulnerables. Es esencial evitar estos brotes, y esto implica anticiparnos a la evoluci&oacute;n y la adaptaci&oacute;n de la enfermedad para estar un paso por delante. Los virus son especialmente da&ntilde;inos por varias razones. Pueden propagarse r&aacute;pidamente y muchos de ellos son transmitidos por insectos vectores que se alimentan de los cultivos facilitando as&iacute; la infecci&oacute;n. Adem&aacute;s, pueden evolucionar mediante un proceso llamado recombinaci&oacute;n y convertirse en una nueva cepa. Un dedicado equipo de investigadores del IFAPA ha abordado un evento de recombinaci&oacute;n particularmente agresivo que afecta a los cultivos de jud&iacute;a en Espa&ntilde;a. Un virus llamado Lettuce chlorosis crinivirus, o LCV, ha sido introducido en Espa&ntilde;a desde California. El virus infect&oacute; previamente a lechuga a trav&eacute;s de mosca blanca. LCV es gen&eacute;ticamente muy similar a otro virus llamado Bean yellow disorder virus, o BnYDV. Mediante secuenciaci&oacute;n, los investigadores encontraron que LCV hab&iacute;a incorporado en su genoma parte del genoma de BnYDV, lo que le ha permitido infectar al cultivo de jud&iacute;a. Al igual que ocurre con las especies animales invasoras, el nuevo virus LCV, que ha perdido su capacidad para infectar la lechuga, est&aacute; ahora compitiendo con BnYDV en los cultivos de jud&iacute;a de Espa&ntilde;a. Esto muestra que los virus de plantas pueden "robar" rasgos gen&eacute;ticos de otros, lo que podr&iacute;a causar epidemias en nuevas regiones. Es &eacute;ste un ejemplo de recombinaci&oacute;n gen&eacute;tica natural y podr&iacute;a ser una gran amenaza para los agricultores que necesitan analizar y adaptar constantemente sus tratamientos para mantener seguros sus productos. Si los investigadores pueden identificar estos eventos de recombinaci&oacute;n r&aacute;pidamente, pueden asesorar a los agricultores sobre c&oacute;mo proteger sus cultivos. [Actividades de Divulgaci&oacute;n Cient&iacute;fica y Tecnol&oacute;gica para&nbsp; el per&iacute;odo 2018-2020, cofinanciado al 80% por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, dentro del Programa Operativo FEDER de Andaluc&iacute;a 2014-2020]