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Prunes necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) was detected in almonds, plum and apricot germplasm accessions and local almond cultivars in Israel. PNRSV was widespread both in wild and cultivated almond trees and uncommon in wild apricots and plums. The possible variation among the PNRSV isolates was initially evaluated by restriction analysis of PCR products representing the CP gene with the endonuclease Rsal and followed by nucleotide sequence analysis of selected isolates. It was concluded that all 13 isolates belong to group PV96, the largest cluster of PNRSV isolates, described previously. Two PNRSV isolates, one from a plum accession and one from an almond cultivar, were found to be distinct members of group PV96 with unique nucleotide modifications not found in other documented isolates of this virus. However, no PNRSV isolate typical to a specific host and/or to the Middle East region could be identified. This study expands the body of data on variability of PNRSV isolates and highlights the importance of assessing the virus status of germplasm collections by applying reliable diagnostic and differentiating methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]