The complete genome sequence of an El Amar isolate of plum pox virus (PPV) and its phylogenetic relationship to other PPV strains

Summary. The genomic sequence of an El Amar isolate of plum pox virus (PPV) from Egypt was determined by sequencing overlapping cDNA fragments. This is the first complete sequence of a member of the El Amar (EA) strain of PPV. The genome consists of 9791 nt, excluding a poly(A) tail at the 3′ terminus. The complete nt sequence of PPV EA is 79–80%, 80%, 77%, and 77% homologous with isolates of strains D/M, Rec (BOR3), C, and W, respectively. The polyprotein identity ranged from 87–91%. Phylogenetic analysis using the complete genome sequence of PPV EA confirmed its strain status. No significant recombination signals were identified using PhylPro and SimPlot scans of the PPV EA sequence, however an interesting recombination signal was identified in the P1/HC-Pro region of PPV W3174.