Abstract
Potato virus (PVY) is the most destructive potato virus which currently causes economic losses in potato production worldwide, including in Saudi Arabia. The first objective of this study was to identify the PVY strains circulating in Saudi Arabia. Nine samples were collected and confirmed PVY-positive, and determined by RT-PCR to represent recombinant PVY strains NE-11 and SYR-III. Whole genome sequences were determined for two isolates, S2 (SYR-III) and S9 (NE-11). This is the first report of the occurrence of recombinant strains of PVY in Saudi Arabia.
Two types of resistance induced by two set of genes have been identified in potato against PVY. Our second objective was to characterize new N resistance genes in potato against PVY recombinants by phenotyping the progeny of F1 crosses between cultivars Yukon Gem and Russet Norkotah. It was determined that resistance to different recombinants of PVY is controlled by distinct N genes.