Genetic diversity of flexiviruses infecting pome fruit trees
Gadiou S., Kundu JK., Paunovic S., Garcia-Diez P., Komorowska B., Gospodaryk A., Handa A., Massart S., Birisik N., Takur PD., Polischuk V.
Three amplicons corresponding to the variable genome regions of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) and Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV) were sequenced from different apple cultivars and geographic areas in Europe and Asia. Multiple alignments of nucleotide sequence of these isolates with those from databases showed a very high divergence. Genetic variability at the nucleotide level among ACSLV and ASPV isolates was very high, ranging from 83.5 to 85.0% and 80.1 to 81.9%, respectively, confirming previous observations. ASGV isolates were more homogenous, with no clear separation between ASGV and Citrus tatter leaf virus and between geographic origin and genetic diversity of the virus isolates characterized in this study.