Identification, transmission, and genomic characterization of four new viruses of cultivated roses

Abstract

Between the period 2005 and 2008 four previously undescribed viruses infecting cultivated roses were identified and fully characterized in Minnesota. These four viruses were transmitted by grafting from infected to healthy roses and found to be the likely causal agents of the diseases that they were associated with. Viruses were provisionally named after the characteristic symptoms in infected plants as follows: Rose yellow vein virus (RYVV), Rose yellow mosaic virus (RoYMV), Rosa rugosa leaf distortion virus (RrLDV), and Rose yellow leaf virus (RoYLV). Based on virion and genome properties it was determined that RYVV is a member of the family <italic>Caulimoviridae </italic>, RoYMV is a member of the family <italic>Potyviridae </italic>, and RrLDV and RoYLV are members of the family <italic>Tombusviridae </italic>. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that these four viruses belong to distinct new genera in their respective taxonomic families. The whole genomic sequence of each virus was deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers: RYVV JX028536; RoYMV NC_019031; RrLDV KC166238; and RoYLV, KC166239. Reliable diagnostic protocols were developed for each virus by PCR for RYVV detection, RT-PCR, immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM), and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for RoYMV detection, and RT-PCR for both RrLDV and RoYMV detection.