Characterization of a Divergent Strain of Miscanthus Streak Virus from <i>Miscanthus sacchariflorus</i> Using High-Throughput Sequencing Data

A novel and divergent strain of Miscanthus streak virus (MiSV) was isolated from Miscanthus sacchariflorus from South Korea. The complete genome of this MiSV is 2,675 nt, which is predicted to include four open reading frames on the virus and complementary strands. MiSV (syn. Mastrevirus miscanthi) is a member of the genus Mastrevirus and family Geminiviridae. MiSV has previously been reported only from Japan more than 30 years ago. The genomes of four MiSV isolates from South Korea share a pairwise nucleotide identity of 84% with the type strain from Japan. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete genome sequence placed these Korean isolates in a distinct sub-clade of MiSV. The isolates recovered represent a new strain of MiSV and are phylogenetically divergent. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .