# South Korea is the center for the origin and emanation of soybean mosaic virus with Bayesian phylogeographic inference

## TL;DR

This study traces the origin and global spread of soybean mosaic virus (SMV), finding that South Korea is the likely origin and a major source of its dissemination.

## Contribution

The study uses Bayesian phylogeographic inference to show South Korea as the origin and center of SMV spread, linking its migration to human historical events.

## Key findings

- The most recent common ancestor of SMV is estimated to have existed around 1511 CE.
- South Korea is identified as the origin and primary dispersal center of SMV.
- SMV spread to China in the late 17th century and to Japan over 150 years later, with global spread beginning in the 20th century.

## Abstract

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is one of the most serious viral pathogens, causing reductions in soybean yield worldwide. Using more than 350 time-stamped SMV coat protein encoding gene sequences from more than a dozen countries and regions in Central Asia, East Asia, North America, South America, and Western Europe, we investigated the phylodynamics of SMV to understand the origin and dispersal of the virus via Bayesian phylogeographic inference. Our analysis revealed that the most recent common SMV ancestor occurred in approximately 1511 (95% credibility interval, 1075–1848) Common Era, and the evolutionary rate of the coat protein gene was 3.751 × 10−4 substitutions/site/year (95% credibility interval, 2.694 × 10−4–4.879 × 10−4). Our results suggest that the SMV population may have originated in South Korea and that South Korea has been the major center for the dissemination of SMV. The virus first began to emigrate from Korea to China in the late 17th century, and it took more than 150 years to spread from South Korea to Japan. However, after the 20th century, SMV spread from South Korea to South America, North America, and Western Europe. Furthermore, our results suggest that the migration history of SMV may be related to important human historical events.

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is a pathogen that severely affects soybean production areas around the world and can cause up to an 86% reduction in soybean yield. This article provides a comprehensive reconstruction of the phylogeographic history of SMV. Our results revealed the geographic origin and migration history of SMV on a global scale and that the migration history of SMV is correlated with human factors. These results have important implications for the sustainable management of soybean production in the field.