Evolutionary rates and genetic diversities of mixed potyviruses in Narcissus

• Each narcissus plant was frequently mixedly infected with different potyviruses.
• Recombination was found in Cyrtanthus elatus virus A (CyEVA) genome.
• Narcissus yellow stripe virus and CyEVA were genetically diverse.
• Evolutionary rates of five narcissus viruses were similar.
• The oldness of TMRCAs correlated with the greatness of nucleotide diversities.

There is no attempt to evaluate evolutionary rates, timescales and diversities of viruses collected from mixedly infected hosts in nature. Plants of the genus Narcissus are a monocotyledon and are susceptible to several viruses. In this study, narcissus plants (Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis) showing mosaic or striping leaves were collected in Japan, and these were investigated for potyvirus infections using potyvirus-specific primers. Individual narcissus plants were found frequently to be mixedly infected with different potyviruses, different isolates and quasispecies of same virus. The viruses were potyviruses and a macluravirus in the family Potyviridae, namely Narcissus late season yellows virus (NLSYV), Narcissus yellow stripe virus (NYSV), Narcissus degeneration virus (NDV), Cyrtanthus elatus virus A (CyEVA) and Narcissus latent virus (NLV). Genetic diversities of coat protein coding region of different virus species were different; NYSV and CyEVA were most diverse whereas NDV was least. Evolutionary rates of all five narcissus viruses were 1.33–7.15 × 10− 3 nt/site/year and were similar. The most recent common ancestors (TMRCAs) varied between virus species; NYSV and CyEVA were the oldest whereas NDV was the youngest. Thus, the oldness of TMRCAs of the viruses correlated well with the greatness of nucleotide diversities.