Oral Technical Session: Virology

110-O

Analysis of 3’-terminal region of Papaya ringspot virus-W isolates from southern United States.
O. Abdalla (1), A. ALI (1)
(1) University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, U.S.A.

Papaya ringspot virus-W (PRSV-W) is one of the most common viruses infecting cucurbits in southern United States. Fifty eight PRSV-W isolates were collected from four different States including Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas. 3’-terminal region (including NIb and CP genes) were amplified and sequenced in these fifty eight isolates. This study showed that PRSV-W isolates in southern United States shared identity ranged from 92.2-99.9% and 94.9-99.6% at nucleotide and amino acid levels respectively, in the 3’-terminal region (CP and part of NIb genes). Comparison of these PRSV-W isolates from USA and worldwide isolates showed that PRSV-USA isolates shared the highest identity with Australian isolates (average identity about 96% at the nt level), while shared the lowest identity with isolates from Indian subcontinent (with average identity 87% at the nt level). A Neighbor Joining tree (NJ) generated from nt sequences of the CP gene of PRSV (P & W) worldwide isolates showed that two isolates from India remained in a separate group, while the other PRSV-W isolates formed a second group.