The nematode-borne Grapevine fanleaf nepovirus (GFLV) causes severe degeneration of grapevines in vineyards worldwide. In a recent survey of the sanitary status of grapevine plants in north Tunisian vineyards, we were interested to study the polymorphism of GFLV. Purified virus, from mechanically inoculated Chenopodium quinoa , was used to produce anti-GFLV antiserum, which specifically recognized GFLV in different Tunisian grapevine samples using the DAS-ELISA technique. Positive samples were subjected to oligoprobe-RT-PCR to amplify a 606 bp region of the viral coat protein sequence. PCR products used for RFLP analysis after digestion with endonuclease Alu I produced 3 restriction profiles. RFLP data allowed clear distinction of two GFLV strains in Tunisia. The nucleotide sequence of the PCR-generated amplicons from each strain was determined showing 93.4% identity at the nucleic acid level and 97.5% similarity at the aminoacid sequence level compared to the previously characterized GFLV-F13 French isolate. This paper is the first report on molecular variability of GFLV in Tunisia.
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