Autor: Nome Docampo, Claudia; Tommasino, Exequiel Arturo; Carloni, Edgardo José; Ruolo, Maria Soledad; De Breuil, Soledad

Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are primarily cultivated for their cones, which contain bioactive compounds essential to the brewing and pharmaceutical industries.

Its vegetative propagation has facilitated the storage and spread of pathogens, including viruses and viroids, negatively impacting crop productivity. In this work we study symptomatic hop plants cultivated in Argentina, employing transmission electron microscopy, RT-PCR, and high-throughput sequencing combined with phylogenetic analysis to diagnose and identify the causal agents. The analysis confirmed, for the first time in Argentina, the presence of hop mosaic virus, hop latent virus, and hop latent viroid in various commercial hop cultivars. These findings indicate the urgent need for integrated disease management strategies, including the use of virus-free propagation material and the implementation of early detection protocols for viruses and viroids in the field. Such measures are vital for maintaining sustainable hop production and meeting the demands of Argentina’s growing brewing industry.

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