Abstract
With the increased use of high-throughput sequencing methods, new viruses infecting Prunus spp. are being discovered and characterized, especially in the family Betaflexiviridae. Double-stranded RNAs from symptomatic leaves of a Japanese apricot (Prunus mume) tree from Japan were purified and analyzed by Illumina sequencing. Blast comparisons of reconstructed contigs showed that the P. mume sample was infected by a putative novel virus with homologies to Cherry virus A (CVA) and to the newly described Currant virus A (CuVA), both members of genus Capillovirus. Completion of the genome showed the new agent to have a genomic organization typical of capilloviruses, with two overlapping open reading frames encoding a large replication-associated protein fused to the coat protein (CP), and a putative movement protein (MP). This virus shares only, respectively, 63.2% and 62.7% CP amino acid identity with the most closely related viruses, CVA and CuVA. Considering the species demarcation criteria in the family and phylogenetic analyses, this virus should be considered as representing a new viral species in the genus Capillovirus, for which the name of Mume virus A is proposed.
Highlights
Since the advent of high-throughput sequencing methods in the plant virology field, a number of new viruses infecting Prunus spp. have been described [1,2]
Completion of the genome showed the new agent to have a genomic organization typical of capilloviruses, with two overlapping open reading frames encoding a large replication-associated protein fused to the coat protein (CP), and a putative movement protein (MP)
A phylogenetic tree reconstructed using the complete genome sequences of representative members of the Betaflexiviridae family shows that the new virus clusters with other capilloviruses with a highly significant bootstrap value (99% in Figure 2) and, that it forms a sub-cluster together with Cherry virus A (CVA) and Currant virus A (CuVA)
Summary
Since the advent of high-throughput sequencing methods in the plant virology field, a number of new viruses infecting Prunus spp. have been described [1,2]. A novel viral species belonging to the family Secoviridae has been described in peach, for which the name of. P. mume is cultivated for culinary or medicinal uses To this date, 15 viroids or viral species from families Pospiviroidae, Closteroviridae, Bromoviridae, Potyviridae, Luteoviridae, Geminiviridae, and Betaflexiviridae have been described from symptomatic or from symptomless P. mume [2,8,9,10,11]. As for Prunus spp. in general, many of the viral species infecting P. mume belong to the Betaflexiviridae family. Phylogenetic analyses allow one to conclude that this virus, for which the name of Mume virus A is proposed, belongs to the genus Capillovirus in the family Betaflexiviridae, extending our knowledge of Prunus-infecting viruses
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