Genome characterization of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus infecting cucurbits reveals the presence of a new genotype in Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean region Chinnadurai Chinnaraja UWI: The University of the West Indies Mounika Kollam UWI: The University of the West Indies Adesh Ramsubhag UWI: The University of the West Indies Jayaraman Jayaraj (
[email protected] ) UWI: The University of the West Indies https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6961-2548 Original Article Keywords: Zucchini yellow mosaic virus, ZYMV-Trini isolates, Virus recombination, ZYMV genotypes, Phylogenetic analysis, Aphis gossypii Posted Date: February 10th, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-203018/v1 License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License Version of Record: A version of this preprint was published at Archives of Virology on April 3rd, 2021. See the published version at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-021-05048-4. Page 1/20 Abstract Zucchini yellow mosaic virus is a potyvirus, which is becoming a serious pathogen of pumpkin and other cucurbits in Trinidad and Tobago and the entire Caribbean region. In this study, four Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) isolates infecting pumpkin in Trinidad and Tobago were characterized by complete genome sequencing for the rst time. Phylogenetic analyses of the isolates showed variability of 5.9–6.0 % nt and 7.7–7.9 % aa sequences with the most closely related isolates NAT and AG (Israel) and SE04T (Slovakia). Based on the variations in complete genome as well as gene sequences, a new genotype designated ZYMV-Trini is proposed for these isolates.