Molecular detection and characterization of a divergent isolate of Plantago asiatica mosaic virus in Plantago asiatica

Four samples of Plantago asiatica showing mottle or mottled yellowing symptoms were collected and three of them were confirmed to be infected with Plantago asiatica mosaic virus (PlAMV) by Illumina HiSeq 2500 paired-end RNA sequencing. Consequently, the complete genomic sequence of a Korean isolate of PlAMV (PlAMV isolate Gunwi) from P. asiatica was determined. The nucleotide sequence of PlAMV-Gunwi was most closely related to a Russian isolate of PlAMV (PlAMV-Ru) collected from P. asiatica but highly dissimilar (~23 %) to other isolates of PlAMV from other plant species. Pairwise comparisons revealed that the complete replicase protein and coat protein of PlAMV-Gunwi share 85.15–91.20 and 84.54–90.82 % amino acid sequence identities, respectively, to the corresponding proteins of other PlAMV isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the natural infection of P. asiatica by PlAMV in Korea, and the divergent PlAMV isolate Gunwi expands our understanding of the epidemiology of PlAMV. © 2016, Indian Virological Society.