Comparison of dsRNA and rRNA depleted RNA methods for virome studies in complex plant communities

Despite potential roles of natural plant communities as reservoirs of crop pathogens, their viromes are not well understood. Thechoice of robust viral enrichment strategies in complex plant communities is a prerequisite if complex datasets of unknown viralcomposition are to be understood. We use plant communities from arable field margins to compare two methods of viral nucleicacid enrichment and compare three frequently used metagenomics assemblers. Both methods are well established across plantvirome studies; however, they have never been compared in the context of non-synthetic and complex plant communities.