Natural infection of Hippeastrum hybridum with Capsicum chlorosis virus and Iris yellow spot virus in Iran

Hippeastrum/amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybridum Hort.) belongs to Amaryllidaceae. Plants of the hippeastrum exhibiting virus-like symptoms of chlorotic ring spots and concentric oval patterns were found in the collection of ornamental geophytes of the Ornamental Plants Research Center, Mahallat, Iran. Amplification of the genome using general primers of the Orthotospovirus genus, and specific primers of capsicum chlorosis virus (CaCV) led to the amplification of the expected fragments in some of the collected samples. Sequencing of amplified fragments proved the infection of some of the samples with CaCV and iris yellow spot virus (IYSV).No simultaneous infection with these two viruses was observed in any of the samples. This is the first report of the occurrence of members of the genus Orthotospovirus on the hippeastrum plant from Iran.