OCCURRENCE OF SOIL-BORNE CEREAL VIRUSES AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE COAT PROTEIN GENE OF BARLEY YELLOW MOSAIC VIRUS ISOLATES FROM IRAN

Barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) and Barley mild mosaic virus (BMMV) are two closely related bymoviruses causing significant yield losses to barley in Europe and East Asia. In the present study we detected both viruses and Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) by DAS-ELISA from field samples collected in Iranian provinces. Moreover, we obtained and sequenced a 971 bp long fragment that included the coat protein coding region of eight Iranian isolates of BaYMV. Phylogenetic analysis of BaYMV coat protein nucleotide sequences previously published shows a separation of Asian and European isolates into two main groups. Surprisingly, Iranian isolates formed a minor cluster within the European group. Alignment of coat protein amino acid sequences confirmed that Iranian BaYMV isolates were more similar to European than to Asian isolates. Further studies are necessary to characterize the molecular and, in particular, the biological properties of Iranian BaYMV isolates in order to evaluate and limit losses on cereal production in the country