Genetic diversity and evolutionary analyses of potyviruses infecting narcissus in Iran

Potyviruses are among the most important pathogens of dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous ornamentals and crop plants. In this study, leaf samples were collected from symptomatic narcissus plants and weeds in Fars and Tehran provinces of Iran. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using broad-spectrum potyvirus antibodies gave a positive reaction with 38 out of 61 narcissus samples tested (62.3%); the results were confirmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction using universal NIb primers, and for thirty samples, by sequencing and phylogenetic studies. The results suggested the infection of almost all positive samples with narcissus yellow stripe virus (NYSV); only one sample seemed to be infected with narcissus late season yellows virus (NLSYV). The 3'-end of the genome of the NLSYV isolate and six NYSV isolates, encompassing the complete coat protein gene, was amplified and sequenced using species-specific and universal potyvirus primers. Sequence analysis indicated the presence of NLSYV and NYSV, not previously identified from Western Asia. No evidence of recombination was found in Iranian isolates. Based on phylogenetic analyses, isolates of NLSYV and NYSV clustered into five and three phylogroups, respectively, where all the Iranian isolates fell into distinct subpopulations in groups NLSYV-I and NYSV-II. Multiple sequence alignments showed some phylogroup-specific amino acid substitutions for both viruses. Phylogroup IV and II populations had higher nucleotide diversities as compared with other populations of NLSYV and NYSV, respectively. Our findings revealed the presence of negative selection in the populations of both viruses. Almost no statistically significant gene flow was found between populations of these viruses.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42161-021-00985-0.