Potato virus Y in Russia

Potato virus Y, an important viral pathogen of potato, has several genetic variants, geographic distribution of which could be affected by environmental factors, aphid vectors, and reservoir plants. PVY is transmitted to native potato plant by aphids and passed to next vegetative generations through tubers, but the effects of tuber transmission on PVY genetics is largely unknown. By using high-throughput sequencing we investigated PVY populations transmitted to potato plants by aphids in different climate zones of Russia, Moscow and Astrakhan regions. Further, we analyzed sprouts from the tubers produced by the field-infected plants to investigate the impact of tuber transmission on PVY genetics.