SEQUENCING OF SIX IRANIAN ISOLATES OF WATERMELON MOSAIC VIRUS AND PHYLOGENETIC COMPARISON OF IRANIAN ISOLATES WITH OTHER ISOLATES OF THE WORLD

SHOEIBI, S.; MASUMI, M.; NASROLLANEZHAD, S.; HEYDARI, S.; IZADPANAH, K.; AHMADIKHAH, A.

SEQUENCING OF SIX IRANIAN ISOLATES OF WATERMELON MOSAIC VIRUS AND PHYLOGENETIC COMPARISON OF IRANIAN ISOLATES WITH OTHER ISOLATES OF THE WORLD

Document Type : Research Article

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Abstract

Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) is one of the most economically important and widespread viruses of cucurbitacous plant in the world. To study geographical distribution of WMV in Golestan province, 179 samples of pumpkin, watermelon, melon and cucumber were collected in six regions of the province and subjected to DAS-ELISA using WMV antiserum. four ELISA positive samples plus two other isolates from Shiraz and Mashhad were subjected to RT-PCR to clone and sequence the CP region of the genome. These and 41 isolates from the GenBank were analyzed to determine their phylogenetic relationship. The results showed that all WMV sequences can be placed into 6 clades. Iranian isolates fall into two distinct clades. Golestan and Mashhad isolates were grouped with isolates from Europe, Mediterranean and Australia, while Shiraz isolate was grouped with two isolates from Japan. Genetic distance between and within groups confirmed the phylogenetic results. Genetic diversity (π) calculation showed that, in spite of presence of remarkable variation in the isolates of WMV in the world, the genetic diversity in the distinct regions such as Europe is very low. Analyses of genetic diversity within different populations of WMV in the world showed that the diversity increases from the West to the East. Maximum molecular and host variation occur in Eastern Asia.

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