First report of natural infection by two potyviruses on amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybridum) plants from India

Amaryllis plants showing the chlorotic stripes and yellowing of the leaves were collected. Electron microscopy of the infected plants revealed flexuous filamentous particles and disease incidence was recorded up to 64%. The presence of virus was confirmed using potyvirus genus and species-specific primers using Reverse transcription PCR. Blastn analysis showed that the samples were infected with leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV) and onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) the of genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an association between LYSV (MZ203474 to MZ203478) and OYDV (MZ203479–MZ203482) with amaryllis. The result also showed that infected Amaryllis plants may act as a reservoir of LYSV and OYDV for economically important Allium crops.