Molecular characterization of geographically different cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus isolates

Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV) causes yellowing symptoms in cucurbit crops worldwide. In this work, the sequences for the coat protein (CP) gene for CABYV isolates from Iran and Slovakia are reported for the first time. Three Iranian isolates shared 96.2-99.3% and the Slovak isolate 98.9% of nucleotide identity in comparison with the reference French CABYV-N isolate. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the sequence of CP gene of examined CABYV isolates differed only slightly. Relatively close relationship and sequence similarity of geographically distant CABYV isolates could reflect the epidemic outbreak and rapid expansion of the virus throughout the world due to the host and vector abundance.