Lee, Gung-Pyo;Ryu, Ki-Hyun;Kim, Hyun-Ran;Kim, Chung-Sun;Lee, Dong-Woo;Kim, Jeong-Soo;Park, Min-Hye;Noh, Young-Mi;Choi, Sun-Hee;Han, Dong-Hyun;Lee, Chang-Hoo
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Apple mosaic virus (ApMV), a member of the genus Ilarvirus, was detected and isolated from diseased 'Fuji' apple (Malus domestica) in Korea. The coat protein (CP) genes of two ApMV strains, denoted as ApMV-Kl and ApMV-K2, were amplified by using the reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were analyzed thereafter. The objectives were to define the molecular variability of genomic information of ApMV found in Korea and to develop virus-derived resistant gene source for making virus-resistant trans-genic apple. RT-PCR amplicons for the APMVS were cloned and their nucleotide sequences were determined. The CPs of ApMV-Kl and ApMV-K2 consisted of 222 and 232 amino acid residues, respectively. The identities of the CPs of the two Korean APMVS were 93.1% and 85.6% at the nucleotide and amino acid sequences, respectively. The CP of ApMV-Kl showed 46.1-100% and 43.2-100% identities to eight different ApMV strains at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. When ApMV-PV32 strain was not included in the analysis, ApMV strains shared over 83.0% and 78.6% homologies at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. ApMV strains showed heterogeneity in CP size and sequence variability. Most of the amino acid residue differences were located at the N-termini of the strains of ApMV, whereas, the middle regions and C-termini were remarkably conserved. The APMVS were 17.(1-54.5% identical with three other species of the genus Ilarviyus. ApMV strains can be classified into three subgroups (subgroups I, II, and III) based on the phylogenetic analysis of CP gene in both nucleotide and amino acid levels. Interestingly, all the strains of subgroup I were isolated from apple plants, while the strains of subgroups II and III were originated from peach, hop, or pear, The results suggest that ApMV strains co-evolved with their host plants, which may have resulted in the CP heterogeneity.