New highly divergent Plum pox virus isolates infecting sour cherry in Russia

Unusual Plum pox virus (PPV) isolates (named Tat isolates) were discovered on sour cherry (Prunus cerasus) in Russia. They failed to be recognized by RT-PCR using commonly employed primers specific to the strains C or CR (the only ones that proved able to infect sour cherry) as well as to the strains M and W. Some of them can be detected by RT-PCR using the PPV-D-specific primers P1/PD or by TAS-ELISA with the PPV-C-specific monoclonal antibody AC. Phylogenetic analysis of the 3′-terminal genomic region assigned the Tat isolates into the cluster of cherry-adapted strains. However, they grouped separately from the C and CR strains and from each other as well. The sequence divergence of the Tat isolates is comparable to the differences between the known PPV strains. They may represent new group(s) of cherry-adapted isolates which do not seem to belong to any known strain of the virus.