Isolates of Turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV) were collected from wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) on a 400 m stretch of Dorset coastline. The coat protein genes of four isolates showed high homology in nucleotide sequence (0.970-1.000, mean 0.987). Lower levels of homology where found to previously published sequences of Australian isolates [10] (0.725-0.775, mean 0.741). The amino acid composition of the Dorset isolates showed high levels of homology (0.964-1.000, mean 0.986). Numerous amino acid substitutions occurred between the Dorset and Australian isolates (0.705-0.819, mean 0.742). Comparison with other isolates showed large genetic distances between the Dorset isolates and both European and Australian isolates.