Phylogenetic Relationship of Alfalfa Mosaic Virus (AMV) Isolate Identified in Bingöl Province of Turkey

Abstract

Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) is one of the most important viral diseases of alfalfa plant among the forage crop, causing significant annual economic losses. The agent is also of potential importance to other cultivars such as tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers in most cases. The identification and phylogenetic relationships of AMV were carried out by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), following by bacterial cloning. The cDNA of alfalfa samples (12) were subjected to RT-PCR tests using primer pairs, specific for the capsid protein gene (CP) of AMV, resulting in a DNA fragment of approximately 700 bp as expected. The amplicons were directly cloned and then resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank (Acc. No: MW962977, MW962976). The BLASTn analysis of both sequences demonstrated that AMV virus isolates from alfalfa were highly similar to other AMV isolates from various crops in the world, with nucleotide identity ranging from 97 to 99.37%. The results of phylogenetic dendrogram based on CP gene sequences clearly suggested that our isolates are closely related to four AMV isolates from alfalfa in Turkey. To our knowledge, this study is the first report of molecular phylogeny and AMV presence in alfalfa exhibiting yellowing, mottling, and leaves abnormalities in Bingöl province, Turkey.