Yellow leaf of sugarcane is caused by at least three different genotypes of sugarcane yellow leaf virus, one of which predominates on the Island of Réunion.

The genetic diversity of sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) was analyzed with 43 virus isolates from Réunion Island and 17 isolates from world-wide locations. We attempted to amplify by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), clone, and sequence four different fragments covering 72% of the genome of these virus isolates. The number of amplified isolates and useful sequence information varied according to each fragment, whereas an amplicon was obtained with diagnostic primers for 59 out of 60 isolates (98%).