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Characterization of Sour Cherry Isolates of Plum pox virus from the Volga Basin in Russia Reveals a New Cherry Strain of the Virus

First, third, fourth, and seventh authors: Institute of Virology, Department of Plant Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84505 Bratislava, Slovakia; second, fifth, and sixth authors: Federal State Organization All-Russian Plant Quarantine Center, Ramensky region, Bykovo, Pogranichnaya street 32, Moscow oblast, 140150, Russia; eighth author: Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Plant Pathology Dept./ Virology and Immunology Lab, Carretera Moncada-Náquera km 5, 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain; and ninth author: INRA and Université de Bordeaux, Equipe de Virologie, UMR 1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, BP81, 33883 Villenave d'Ornon cedex, France.

Plum pox virus (PPV) is the causal agent of sharka, the most detrimental virus disease of stone fruit trees worldwide. PPV isolates have been assigned into seven distinct strains, of which PPV-C regroups the genetically distinct isolates detected in several European countries on cherry hosts. Here, three complete and several partial genomic sequences of PPV isolates from sour cherry trees in the Volga River basin of Russia have been determined. The comparison of complete genome sequences has shown that the nucleotide identity values with other PPV isolates reached only 77.5 to 83.5%. Phylogenetic analyses clearly assigned the RU-17sc, RU-18sc, and RU-30sc isolates from cherry to a distinct cluster, most closely related to PPV-C and, to a lesser extent, PPV-W. Based on their natural infection of sour cherry trees and genomic characterization, the PPV isolates reported here represent a new strain of PPV, for which the name PPV-CR (Cherry Russia) is proposed. The unique amino acids conserved among PPV-CR and PPV-C cherry-infecting isolates (75 in total) are mostly distributed within the central part of P1, NIa, and the N terminus of the coat protein (CP), making them potential candidates for genetic determinants of the ability to infect cherry species or of adaptation to these hosts. The variability observed within 14 PPV-CR isolates analyzed in this study (0 to 2.6% nucleotide divergence in partial CP sequences) and the identification of these isolates in different localities and cultivation conditions suggest the efficient establishment and competitiveness of the PPV-CR in the environment. A specific primer pair has been developed, allowing the specific reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction detection of PPV-CR isolates.

Additional keywords: diversity, potyvirus.