Population genetics of Cucumber mosaic virus infecting medicinal, aromatic and ornamental plants from northern Italy

The genetic variation and evolution of cucumbermosaic virus (CMV) from aromatic, medicinal andornamental plants in northern Italy was studied bysequence analysis of the movement protein gene andcomparison with equivalent sequences of isolates fromother countries. Comparison of nonsynonymous and synonymoussubstitutions suggested that 30% of amino acidsites were under negative selection and only one was underpositive selection. Phylogenetic, nucleotide diversity andgenetic differentiation analyses suggested that long-distancemigration plays a role in the evolution anddetermination of the genetic structure and diversity ofCMV in northern Italy and other areas.