POPULATION GENETICS ANALYSIS OF Garlic virus A, Garlic virus B, Garlic virus C AND Garlic virus X

Abstract

Garlic virus A (GarV-A), Garlic virus B (GarV-B), Garlic virus C (GarV-C) and Garlic virus X (GarV-X) are members of the genus Allexivirus in the family Alphaflexiviridae. In this study, we collected 10, 30, 10 and 14 isolates of GarV-A, GarV-B, GarV-C and GarV-X, respectively, from different parts of Poland. All sequences of coat protein (CP) and nucleic-acid binding protein (NABP) regions of Allexivirus isolates available in GenBank were also included in this study. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences identities within each population differed substantially depending on the region of the genome and virus species. The results of selection pressure analysis showed that populations of each Allexivirus underwent negative selection, but the extent of the negative selection varied. It was also concluded that the GarV-A and GarV-C populations underwent a decrease in population size or balancing selection, while the GarV-B and GarV-X populations underwent an increase in population size. It was concluded that both populations of GarV-X evolved independently in each respective area, in contrast to populations of GarV-A, GarV-B and GarV-C.