Genetic structure and evidence of putative darwinian diversifying selection in the potato yellow vein virus (pyvv)

Abstract

The population structure and genetic variation of Potato yellow vein virus (PYVV) were estimated by analysis of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence of the coat protein of 69 isolates, reported in GenBank, from Solanum tuberosum (ST) and Solanum phureja (SP) hosts from different regions; predominantly Cundinamarca, Antioquia and Nariño, located in central and southwestern Colombia. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that despite the wide geographic distribution of different hosts and different collecting years, PYVV maintains a genetic similarity between 97.1 to 100.0%, indicating high spatial and temporal genetic stability of the major coat protein. No recombination events were found, but evidence was seen for the first time that this protein could be undergoing Darwinian diversifying selection.