A Luteovirus was found associated with midrib yellowing symptoms of sugarcane in India. The virus was earlier identified on the basis of particle morphology and serological relationships. In this study, we attempt serological and molecular characterization of an Indian isolate of SCYLV through DAC-ELISA, TBIA and immunocapture reverse transcriptase-PCR (IC RT-PCR), respectively. The virus was found widely distributed and was found in 27 samples from six states of India. The nucleotide sequences from IC RT PCR amplification product were obtained. Coat protein, 17 kDa movement protein and C-terminus of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase coding regions were analyzed in detail. Comparison showed that the deduced amino acid sequence share 98% homology with a Texas isolate (5aa changes) and 100% homology with the corresponding sequences of an Australian isolate of SCYLV. The coat protein had 100% identity with described sequences from isolates from different sugarcane growing regions worldwide. (Phylogenetic analysis also suggests-that 5’ and 3’ coding blocks of the SCYLV genome possesses different taxonomic affinities with different members of the family
