Molecular characterization of poleroviruses isolated from oilseed rape in Greece

In 2018 virus-like symptoms, typical of polerovirus infection were observed in several oilseed rape crops in northern Greece. In order to identify the etiological agent of these symptoms a polerovirus-generic RT-PCR assay was applied. Sequencing of the amplicons revealed the presence of virus isolates genetically close to turnip yellows virus (TuYV). Further molecular characterization of the near complete genome of ‘1–2’, ‘Geo1’, ‘Geo7’ and ‘Geo15’ isolates revealed that they share > 96% nt identity with various TuYV sequences. On the other hand, the fifth, characterized isolate from oilseed rape, termed ‘1–1’, showed higher sequence similarity to brassica yellows virus (BrYV) regarding the 5′ part of the complete coding sequence, whereas the 3′ part was closely related to TuYV isolates. A recombination analysis using RDP indicated the presence of a putative breakpoint (nucleotide position 2964) in ‘1–1’ genome and it is proposed that the virus isolate ‘1–1’ might be an interspecies recombinant between BrYV and TuYV. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the complete coding sequences of Greek TuYV isolates have been determined and the first detection of a BrYV/TuYV recombinant isolate infecting oilseed rape in Greece.