Sequencing of New Zealands tomato spotted wilt virus isolates

Abstract

The capsid protein genes of thirteen isolates of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) (Tospovirus) occurring in New Zealand have been sequenced TSWV is a thripsvectored virus causing serious damage in field and covered crops With recent new incursions of thrips species and tospoviruses it was considered of interest to identify what if any sequence variation occurs in the New Zealand TSWV isolates both from a temporal and geographic perspective The material chosen for sequencing was sourced from fresh glasshouse and field samples and also from samples that had been stored frozen for several years The oldest TSWV isolate was collected in 1992 and stored frozen since then and the most recently collected was from fresh material in 2008 Samples were obtained from several geographic locations throughout New Zealand When compared to the worldwide TSWV capsid gene sequence data held in GenBank cluster analysis of the sequence data has placed the New Zealand isolates into distinct groups Observations of the most closely related strains on a global scale may provide clues to the country of origin from which historic TSWV incursions into New Zealand originated