Abstract
Pandan grass (Pandanus amaryllifolius) plants showing leaf mosaic and chlorosis were observed in 2019 in a botanical garden in Florida. Potential viral infection associated with these symptoms was investigated by high-throughput sequencing (HTS). HTS was performed using both total RNA and total DNA extractions in two separate experiments. Assembled contigs were compared to the NCBI database using BlastN and BlastX algorithms. Two viruses were detected and fully sequenced. Genome comparisons revealed orchid fleck virus (OFV) of the genus Dichorhavirus (Rhabdoviridae family) and a new badnavirus (Caulimoviridae family) tentatively named Pandanus mosaic associated virus (PMaV). The OFV isolate from pandan grass shared up to 98% amino acid identity with the RNA polymerase (L protein) of OFV isolates from orchids and citrus. The closest relative (70.7% identity at the nucleotide level of the RT + RNase H region) of PMaV was taro bacilliform CH virus-Et17 (MG017324). Further investigations are needed to determine the role of each virus species in the observed symptoms, both in single and mixed infections. This is the first report of OFV infecting pandan grass in the USA.