Iris spp. are perennial bulbous or rhizomatous plants with a cosmopolitan distribution. Narcissus latent virus (NLV; genus Macluravirus) causes significant economic damage to commercially important cultivars of iris, gladiolus, narcissus and nerine (Derks et al., 1985; Clark & Guy, 2000). The virus is sap- and aphid-transmissible and induces disease symptoms in a number of hosts, including mosaic in iris and very mild leaf chlorosis in the tips of narcissus (Brunt 1977; Wei et al., 2007). In May 2021, Iris versicolor plants showing mosaic and inconspicuous chlorosis symptoms (Figure 1) were collected (n = 5) from iris fields around Mashhad, in the northeast of Iran. Total RNA was extracted from young leaves of the five plants (50 mg leaf tissue per sample) using an SV Total RNA Isolation Kit (Promega, USA) following the manufacturer’s instructions. RT-PCR was performed using a primer pair CPU-F (5′-CATTACACCCGACCTGGAACT-3′) and CPU-R (5′- CCATTTCAGGGCATTGGAGGA-3′) designed to amplify a 1066 bp fragment of the 3΄-region of the NLV genome (encompassing partial NIb, complete CP and partial 3’UTR). RT was done using 2 µl antisense primer CPU-R (10 pmol), 3 µl total RNA, and 1 µl MMuLV (100 U/µl) reverse transcriptase in a 20 µl volume. PCR was performed in 25 µl reaction mixtures containing 12.5 µl Taq DNA Polymerase Master Mix RED (Ampliqon, Denmark), 1 µl each of forward and reverse primer (10 pmol) and 3 µl template cDNA. The PCR thermal conditions were 95◦C for 3 minutes; followed by 35 cycles of 94◦C for 30 s, 55◦C for 30 s, 72◦C for 90 s; and the final extension at 72◦C for 7 minutes. PCR products were analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Amplified fragments of the expected size of one isolate (IR3) were purified, cloned, sequenced in both directions by Sanger sequencing (Macrogen Inc., South Korea), and deposited in GenBank (Accession No. OP056419). BLAST analysis indicated that the sequence of isolate IR3 shared 98.1% nucleotide identity (98.7% amino acid identity) with the corresponding sequence of isolate NLV5_1 from Poland (JX270766). Mixed infections of NLV with the potyviruses, Iris mild mosaic virus and Iris severe mosaic virus (Naseri et al., 2022), adversely affect iris production causing a wide range of symptoms, reducing both the ornamental and medicinal value. The detection of NLV in iris is, to our knowledge, the first report of this virus in Iran

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