Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the most important culinary herbs in Poland. Viral diseases are among the most serious threats to garlic cultivation. As garlic is vegetatively propagated, virus infections are transmitted from one crop cycle to another through infected cloves. The most commons viruses infecting garlic plants are members of three families: Potyviridae (genus Potyvirus), Betaflexiviridae (genus Carlavirus) and Alphaflexiviridae (genus Allexivirus). These viruses have similar morphological properties and often similar biology, thus it is very difficult to distinguish them. Eight virus species belong to the genus Allexivirus: Garlic mite-borne filamentous virus (GarMbFV), Garlic virus A (GarV-A), Garlic virus B (GarV-B), Garlic virus C (GarV-C), Garlic virus D (GarV-D), Garlic virus E (GarV-E), Garlic virus X (GarV-X) and Shallot virus X (ShVX). Infections of allexiviruses can cause severe losses in garlic production fields such as – decrease in bulbs’ weight (14–32%) and reduction of their diameter (6–11%). Phylogenetic analysis based on nucleotide, as well as amino acid sequences of different genome fragments, has revealed genetic diversity within populations of allexiviruses. Furthermore, the diagnostic methods used for detection of viruses that belong to the genus Allexivirus occurring in garlic plants are described.

Czosnek pospolity (Allium sativum L.) jest jedną z najważniejszych roślin przyprawowych uprawianych w Polsce. Ze względu na to, że jest to roślina rozmnażana jedynie w sposób wegetatywny, wirusy przenoszone są z jednego cyklu uprawy na kolejny wraz z zainfekowanymi cebulami. Czosnek jest porażany przede wszystkim przez wirusy należące do trzech rodzin: Potyviridae (rodzaj Potyvirus), Betaflexiviridae (rodzaj Carlavirus) i Alphaflexiviridae (rodzaj Allexivirus). Są to wirusy o zbliżonej morfologii oraz właściwościach biologicznych, dlatego istnieją trudności w rozdzieleniu kompleksu tych wirusów. Do rodzaju Allexivirus należy osiem gatunków wirusów: przenoszony przez szpeciele nitkowaty wirus czosnku (Garlic mite-borne filamentous virus, GarMbFV), wirus A czosnku (Garlic virus A, GarV-A), wirus B czosnku (Garlic virus B, GarV-B), wirus C czosnku (Garlic virus C, GarV-C), wirus D czosnku (Garlic virus D, GarV-D), wirus E czosnku (Garlic virus E, GarV-E), wirus X czosnku (Garlic virus X, GarV-X) i wirus X szalotki (Shallot virus X, ShVX). Obecność allexiwirusów w roślinach czosnku jest przyczyną spadku plonu – redukcja ciężaru cebul (14–32%) oraz ich średnicy (6–11%). Na podstawie wyników przeprowadzonych analiz filogenetycznych, opartych na budowie sekwencji nukleotydów i amino-kwasów różnych fragmentów genomu poszczególnych gatunków ustalono, że allexiwirusy są zróżnicowane genetycznie. Ponadto przedstawiono metody diagnostyczne wykorzystywane do wykrywania i identyfikacji allexiwirusów w roślinach czosnku pospolitego.

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