No abstract

A new tospovirus was identified in iris cultivations in the Netherlands. Both serological comparisons and sequence determination of the S RNA demonstrate that this virus represents a new and distinct species, belonging to a separate serogroup, and for which the name iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) is proposed. The disease symptoms on iris are characterized by yellow spots on the leaves. Its experimental host range is very narrow and, in addition to iris, only includes Nicotiana benthamiana and Datura stramonium. The nucleoprotein of IYSV shows only 30 to 44% sequence identity with those of other tospoviruses identified so far; the highest homology being found with the tospovirus species of serogroup IV.

cDNA clones complementary to the 3"-terminal regions of the genomic RNAs of the carlavirus lily symptomless virus and the potexvirus lily virus X (LVX) have been sequenced. The carlavirus RNA sequence contains five open reading frames (ORFs) coding for proteins of Mr 25 374, 11631, 6960, 32 041 (coat protein) and 16121, which are all very similar in size, amino acid sequence and relative position in the genome to proteins encoded by two different potato carlaviruses. The first four of these proteins also show considerable amino acid sequence similarity to proteins encoded by RNA of potexviruses, and the relative position of the ORFs on the carlavirus genome strongly resembles that in the potexvirus genomes. The LVX cDNA clone contains three ORFs encoding proteins of Mr 23574, 11767 and 21569 (coat protein). A small ORF immediately 5' of the coat protein ORF, which has been found in other potexvirus genomes, is not present in the LVX genome. Thus, the data confirm the close taxonomic relationship between carlaviruses and potexviruses and reveal some differences in genome organization among the potexviruses.

Five viruses causing colour-breaking of tulip flowers were isolated from tulips and lilies. Tulip-breaking virus (TBV), tulip top-breaking virus (TTBV), tulip bandbreaking virus, Rembrandt tulip-breaking virus and lily mottle virus were all characterized as potyviruses by serology and potyvirus-specific PCR. Sequence analysis of amplified DNA fragments spanning a conserved area of the coat protein cistron ofpotyviruses was performed in order to classify the isolates as distinct viruses or strains. It appears that all tulip-breaking viruses are distinct viruses and TTBV was found to be strain-related to turnip mosaic virus.

Conserved carlavirus and potyvirus primers were used in reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) to amplify virus fragments from Chinese narcissus (Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis) in China and the fragments were subsequently sequenced and compared in phylogenetic analyses. Samples from Fujiang province and Shanghai contained either one or two potyviruses and a carlavirus. One potyvirus (PY1) showed a distant relationship to Iris severe mosaic virus, Onion yellow dwarf virus and Shallot yellow stripe virus, while the other (only in the Fujiang sample, PY2) was most closely related to Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV). Similar experiments using glasshouse grown Narcissus originating from the UK contained Ornithogalum mosaic virus and another potyvirus (PY3) in the TuMV/PY2 cluster. Comparisons with previously determined sequence fragments indicated that PY2 was probably Narcissus yellow stripe virus and PY3 Narcissus late season yellow virus. Carlavirus fragments from both Chinese sites seemed to be of the same virus, which was most closely related in phylogenetic analyses to Potato virus M, Aconitum latent virus and Hop latent virus. It is most probably a new member of the genus Carlavirus and has been tentatively named Narcissus common latent virus.