Arch Virol (2006) 151: 477–493
DOI 10.1007/s00705-005-0646-2
Identification and full sequence of an isolate of Alternanthera
mosaic potexvirus infecting Phlox stolonifera
J. Hammond, M. D. Reinsel, and C. J. Maroon-Lango
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. National
Arboretum, Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit, Beltsville, Maryland, U.S.A.
Received April 18, 2005; accepted August 23, 2005
Published online October 7, 2005
c
Springer-Verlag 2005
Summary. A potexvirus was isolated from creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera)
plants from a commercial nursery in Pennsylvania. The virus was serologically
related to clover yellow mosaic virus, plantain virus X, potato virus X, and
potato aucuba mosaic virus, and was most closely related to papaya mosaic virus
(PapMV). The sequence of a PCR fragment obtained with potexvirus group-
specific primers was distinct from that of PapMV; the coat protein (CP) gene and
3
untranslated region (UTR) were closely related to Alternanthera mosaic virus
(AltMV), previously reported only from Australia. The host range was similar to
that of the Australian isolate (AltMV-Au), and the phlox isolate reacted strongly
with antiserum to AltMV-Au. The full sequence of the phlox isolate was more
closely related to PapMV throughout the genome than to any potexvirus other
than AltMV-Au, for which only the CP and 3
UTR sequences are available. The
phlox isolate was therefore named AltMV-PA (for Pennsylvania), and the full
6607 nt sequence is presented
1
. Additional AltMV isolates from creeping phlox
(AltMV-BR and AltMV-SP) and trailing portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora;AltMV-
Po) were also isolated, suggesting that AltMV may be widespread, and may have
been mis-diagnosed in the past as PapMV. AltMV has the potential to spread to
other ornamental crops.
Introduction
Creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) plants with foliar mosaic were originally
collected from a commercial nursery in Pennsylvania by Pennsylvania Department
1
The full sequence of AltMV-PA has been deposited in GenBank as Accession Number
AY863024; the 3
-terminal sequences of AltMV-PA, AltMV-BR, AltMV-SP, and AltMV-
Po have been deposited under Accession numbers AY850929, AY850928, AY850931, and
AY850930, respectively.