Characterization of tobamovirus isolates collected from pepper crops in South East France has revealed the existance of several strains belonging to different viruses of the group. The biological and serological properties of three isolates (Vi76, Adam and Eve), selected as representative strains, have been studied. They have been compared with TMV and ToMV strains already isolated in our region as well as with other reference strains of ToMV-D and TMV-U1. They were also compared with other tobamovirus strains P11, P8 and P14, from the Netherlands, and PMMV-W from Italy also isolated from pepper genotypes possessing the “L” gene for resistance to TMV and ToMV strains. According to biological and serological reactions, Vi76 is more related to ToMV than to TMV but it is not related to Adam and Eve which are more closely related to PMMV. On the basis of the interaction with the “L” gene for resistance in pepper genotypes we have found that the Adam and P8 strains belong to the P1-2 pathotype and the Eve and P14 strains to the P1-2-3 pathotype and all the 4 strains belong to the PMMV-W group. In France, there have been no reports of the isolation of the P11 strain which is distantly related to the Adam strain.