Incidence and full genome sequence of Alfalfa mosaic virus infecting sugar beet

The average incidence of AMV infection in sugar beet was 20% as detected by RT-PCR in selected governorates of Egypt (El-Beheira, Kafr El-Shaykh and Alexandria). Nucleotide sequencing of the complete genome of AMV EGY1 isolated from sugar beet plants was determined. Analysis of comparable sequences showed that total nucleotide sequence similarity between the AMV Beet-EGY1 isolate and the FER isolate (Solanum tuberosum) from Egypt is 97.86%, 98.01% and 97.79% for RNAs 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that AMV EGY1 isolate occupied a separate clade with FER isolate from Egypt; it suggests that the isolate from Beta vulgaris is different from other previously reported isolates. Nucleotide and amino acid sequence comparison of all isolates revealed that the Egyptian isolates appear to be more linked to subgroup II when compared to subgroup I and belong to subgroup IIC. This is the first report of a full genome sequence of AMV infecting sugar beet.