High-throughput sequencing (HTS) was used to investigate the virome of strawberry plants in Iran. Several previously reported strawberry viruses were identified, including strawberry crinkle virus, strawberry mottle virus, strawberry pallidosis-associated virus, strawberry polerovirus 1, strawberry crinivirus 3 and 4, and strawberry Kurdistan virus. In addition, ourmia melon virus (OuMV) was identified for the first time in strawberry. HTS results were validated by RT-PCR using OuMV-specific primers. A diagnostic assay was developed and applied to screen samples from strawberry-growing regions in Iran. RT-PCR results showed that 10% of tested samples were positive for OuMV. Pairwise identity analysis revealed that the three OuMV isolates derived from strawberry shared 85.1% – 90.0% nucleotide identity with the OuMV reference genome. This significant discovery highlights potential threats to strawberry cultivation and provides insights for disease management strategies.
