Genetic diversity and identification of putative recombination events in grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus.

The impact of recombination on variant classification and the use of different genomic regions to identify virus variants were investigated using a diversity study performed on grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (GRSPaV). Three surveys were conducted to investigate the genetic diversity of GRSPaV and to compare the ability of the GRSPaV coat protein and replicase domains to classify virus variants. GRSPaV variants identified in the surveys clustered into five of the six currently recognised lineages, and a seventh, previously unclassified lineage was detected. A correlation was observed between the detection of recombinant GRSPaV sequences and inconsistencies in classification when using different genome regions for analysis.