Abstract
Odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV) is a member of the genus Tobamovirus. It is one of the most prevalent viruses infecting orchids worldwide. Earlier studies reported the genetic variability of ORSV isolates from Korea and China. However, the evolutionary rate, timescale, and phylogeographical analyses of ORSV were unclear. Twenty-one coat protein (CP) gene sequences of ORSV were determined in this study, and used them together with 145 CP sequences obtained from GenBank to infer the genetic diversities, evolutionary rate, timescale and migration of ORSV populations. Evolutionary rate of ORSV populations was 1.25 × 10-3 nucleotides/site/y. The most recent common ancestors came from 30 year ago (95% confidence intervals, 26-40). Based on CP gene, ORSV migrated from mainland China and South Korea to Taiwan island, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and it also circulated within east Asia. Our study is the first attempt to evaluate the evolutionary rates, timescales and migration dynamics of ORSV.