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Cotton Virus A: Study and Characterization of a New DNA Virus


Broadcast Date: March 19, 2024 


View On-Demand Webinar Below


​​​Webinar Summary​

This webinar will cover efforts to study and characterize cotton virus A (CotV-A), a new DNA virus found in U.S. cotton fields. CotV-A was initially found in Mississippi fields in plants presenting symptoms commonly associated with cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV). Like its relatives in the same DNA virus family, CotV-A endogenous sequences were found integrated into the genome of commercial cotton species and wild relatives, as revealed by computational analyses. Although it is unclear if CotV-A can cause virus symptoms in infected plants by itself, the possible seedborne and vectorborne nature of other related DNA viruses in the same family underscores the importance of future research endeavors.  

A question-and-answer section will follow the presentation. 

​​​​​Presenters



Michelle Heck
Cornell University
Michelle Heck is an associate professor at the Boyce-Thompson Institute, School of Integrated Science, Section of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She also is a research molecular biologist and lead scientist for the Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research Unit, USDA-ARS, in Ithaca. Her research uses a combination of molecular, genetic, and proteomics approaches to understand how insects transmit plant pathogens and how pathogens manipulate host plants to ensure replication and transmission. 
 
Alejandro Olmedo Velarde
Cornell Univeristy
Alejandr​o Olmedo Velarde is a postdoctoral associate in the School of Integrated Science, Section of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He works on cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) and other aphid-transmitted viruses in Dr. Heck’s lab, focusing on virus-host and virus-vector interactions with the goal of producing new management approaches. 


​On-Demand Webinar