Genomic characterisation of taro bacilliform virus.
Taro bacilliform virus (TaBV) has been classified as a putative badnavirus based on its non-enveloped, bacilliform virion morphology and transmission by mealybugs. The complete nucleotide sequence of a Papua New Guinea isolate of TaBV has now been determined and comprises 7458 bp. The genome contains four open reading frames (ORFs) on the plus-strand that potentially encode proteins of 17, 16, 214 and 13 kDa. The size and organisation of TaBV ORFs 1-3 is similar to that of most other badnaviruses, while the location of ORF 4 is similar to that of ORF 4 and ORF X of the atypical badnaviruses Citrus yellow mosaic virus and Cacao swollen shoot virus, respectively. The putative amino acid sequence of TaBV ORF 3 contained motifs that are conserved amongst badnavirus proteins including aspartic protease, reverse transcriptase (RT) and ribonuclease H (RNase H). The highly conserved putative plant tRNA(met)-binding site was also present in the 935 bp intergenic region of TaBV. Phylogenetic analysis using the amino acid sequence of ORF 3 showed that TaBV branched most closely to Dioscorea bacilliform virus. These results confirm that TaBV is a pararetrovirus of the genus Badnavirus, family Caulimoviridae.
Centre for Molecular Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
I C
IC
Yang
G J
GJ
Hafner
J L
JL
Dale
R M
RM
Harding
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019195:Badnavirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D031060:Colocasia / Q000821:virology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology