Prevalence, Species Diversity, and Molecular Characterization of Viruses Infecting Phlox (Phlox paniculata) from Botanical Gardens in Russia
Phlox (Phlox spp., Polemoniaceae) are herbaceous ornamental plants that are cultivated around the world for their fascinating flowering. P. paniculata cultivar collections at the Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden and the Botanical Garden of Lomonosov Moscow State University (both in Moscow, Russia) were surveyed for virus diseases using high-throughput sequencing and RT-PCR. Twenty-seven plants with virus-like symptoms on the leaves were selected for analysis. Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV), ArMV satellite RNA (satRNA), beet ringspot nepovirus (BRSV), BRSV satRNA, cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Spiranthes mosaic virus 3 (SpiMV3), tobacco streak virus (TSV), and tobacco rattle virus (TRV) were identified. AMV and TSV were the most common viruses found in 22 and 25 out of the 27 samples tested, respectively. ArMV satRNA was detected in phlox for the first time, adding to the list of viruses infecting this crop. The nearly complete genomes of the detected viruses and satRNAs were assembled and characterized. The CMV and TRV genome sequences from phlox were first deposited in GenBank. Only RNA1 was detected in the TRV-infected ‘Fligelleutenant Bolke’ cultivar plant, suggesting that the so-called non-multiplying infection has been found for the first time in a plant species other than solanaceae.