The westward journey of alfalfa leaf curl virus
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Date
2018Author
Davoodi, Zohreh
Bejerman, Nicolás
Richet, Cécile
Filloux, Denis
Harkins, Gordon W.
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Show full item recordAbstract
Alfalfa leaf curl virus (ALCV), which causes severe disease symptoms in alfalfa (Medicago
sativa L.) and is transmitted by the widespread aphid species, Aphis craccivora Koch, has been
found throughout the Mediterranean basin as well as in Iran and Argentina. Here we reconstruct
the evolutionary history of ALCV and attempt to determine whether the recent discovery and
widespread detection of ALCV is attributable either to past diagnostic biases or to the emergence
and global spread of the virus over the past few years. One hundred and twenty ALCV complete
genome sequences recovered from ten countries were analyzed and four ALCV genotypes (ALCV-A,
ALCV-B, ALCV-C, and ALCV-D) were clearly distinguished. We further confirm that ALCV isolates
are highly recombinogenic and that recombination has been a major determinant in the origins of the
various genotypes. Collectively, the sequence data support the hypothesis that, of all the analyzed
locations, ALCV likely emerged and diversified in the Middle East before spreading to the western
Mediterranean basin and Argentina.