Variability in Coat Protein Sequence Homology Among American and European Sources of Strawberry Vein Banding Virus

Strawberry vein banding virus (SVBV) isolates from North America, Czech Republic, Norway, and Germany were collected and their variability was determined by dot blot hybridization and confirmed by sequencing of a 431-nucleotide fragment from the middle part of the coat protein gene. Two different substitutions were found between the American and two Czech SVBV isolates, but the other isolates were identical in the compared region to the American isolate. Digoxigenin-labeled probes were prepared from these isolates and used for hybridization with polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments of 26 Czech SVBV field isolates. No significant differences in the hybridization signal were found with any combination of samples and probes. These results show that the European isolates probably originate from a common ancestor and may have been introduced to Europe from America with planting or breeding material.