Catharanthus mosaic virus: A potyvirus from a gymnosperm, Welwitschia mirabilis

• First record of catharanthus mosaic virus found in Australia.
• First complete sequence of catharanthus mosaic virus determined.
• First virus found from Welwitschia mirabilis, a long-lived gymnosperm originating from south-west Africa.
• First potyvirus reported to infect Angiosperm and Gymnosperm hosts.
• Illustrates how the international trade in live plants and propagules enables viruses to colonise new hosts and invade new lands.

A virus from a symptomatic plant of the gymnosperm Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. growing as an ornamental plant in a domestic garden in Western Australia was inoculated to a plant of Nicotiana benthamiana where it established a systemic infection. The complete genome sequence of 9636 nucleotides was determined using high-throughput and Sanger sequencing technologies. The genome sequence shared greatest identity (83% nucleotides and 91% amino acids) with available partial sequences of catharanthus mosaic virus, indicating that the new isolate belonged to that taxon. Analysis of the phylogeny of the complete virus sequence placed it in a monotypic group in the genus Potyvirus. This is the first record of a virus from W. mirabilis, the first complete genome sequence of catharanthus mosaic virus determined, and the first record from Australia. This finding illustrates the risk to natural and managed systems posed by the international trade in live plants and propagules, which enables viruses to establish in new regions and infect new hosts.