Biological and molecular characterisation of ten Peanut stunt virus (PSV) isolates from Robinia pseudoacacia was carried out. The host range of these isolates was similar to that of the previously described PSV strains in most cases, but on Pisum sativum and Lens culinaris latent infection was induced. Variability in systemic symptoms was observed only on Nicotiana glutinosa. The partial RNA3 sequences were determined, including the carboxyl terminal region of the movement protein gene, the intergenic region, the entire coat protein gene and the 3′ untranslated region. Nucleotide sequence comparison of the coat protein genes showed 77.6-84.2% identity with most of the known PSV strains and 96.3-98.0% identity with PSV-Rp the typical member of subgroup IV. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the presence of the ancient homologous recombination in all of the examined black locust isolates and all the isolates were members of the fourth PSV subgroup. These results showed that the isolates of the fourth subgroup are widely distributed in black locust in this region.Peanut stunt virus (PSV) is an economically important pathogen of legumes worldwide, causing severe symptoms on alfalfa (Medicago sativa), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), pea (Pisum sativum), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), various types of clover (Trifolium spp.) and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) all over the world (Mink 1972) except Australia. Disease surveys revealed that black locust trees, a well established tree in central Europe, are widely infected by PSV and could act as a primary virus source for legumes and other susceptible plants.PSV is a member of the genus Cucumovirus in the family Bromoviridae. Other members of the genus are Tomato aspermy virus (TAV) and the type member Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) (Fauquet and Mayo 2001). The genome of PSV consists of three genomic RNAs with positive polarity, designated RNA1, RNA2 and RNA3, in order of decreasing size. RNA1 and RNA2 code for the viral components of the replicase complex. RNA2 also codes for a small protein called 2b, which is responsible for the suppression of posttranscriptional gene silencing and also functions in host-specific long-distance movement (Netsu et al., Eur J Plant Pathol (2009) 125:671-677