First report of garlic virus E in Australia

Garlic virus E (GarVE) is reported for the first time in Australia, from four accessions in a garlic germplasm collection planted at Gatton in South East Queensland. The presence of the virus was confirmed by reverse transcriptase PCR using GarVE-specific primers, followed by direct sequencing of the PCR product. The isolates had 99.1-99.7% nucleotide identity to each other, and 97.9-98.5% nucleotide sequence identity to the exemplar isolate for the species within the amplified region covering parts of the coat protein and nucleic acid binding protein genes. The distribution and economic impact of the virus in commercial plantings needs to be determined.