Cherry chlorotic rusty spot and Amasya cherry diseases are associated with a complex pattern of mycoviral-like double-stranded RNAs. I. Characterization of a new species in the genus Chrysovirus.
Cherry chlorotic rusty spot (CCRS) and Amasya cherry disease (ACD) display similar symptoms and are associated with a series of dsRNAs. However, a direct comparison has been lacking. Here, a side-by-side analysis confirmed that both diseases were symptomatologically very similar, as were the number (10-12) and size of their associated dsRNAs. Sequence determination of four of these dsRNAs revealed that they were essentially identical for CCRS and ACD. The largest (3399 bp), which potentially encoded a protein of 1087 aa with the eight motifs conserved in RNA-dependent RNA polymerases of dsRNA mycoviruses, had the highest similarity to those coded by dsRNA 1 of viruses belonging to the genus Chrysovirus and was termed CCRS or ACD chrys-dsRNA 1. The three closely migrating dsRNAs had the properties of the other components of a chrysovirus and in CCRS and ACD versions, respectively, were chrys-dsRNA 2 (3125 and 3128 bp), chrys-dsRNA 3 (2833 bp) and chrys-dsRNA 4 (2499 and 2498 bp), potentially encoding the major capsid protein (993 and 994 aa) and two proteins (884 and 677 aa, respectively) of unknown function. The four 5'- and 3'-UTRs shared internal similarities and had conserved GAAAAUUAUGG and AUAUGC termini, respectively. The 5'-UTRs contained the 'Box 1' motif followed by a stretch rich in CAA, CAAA and CAAAA repeats, characteristic of chrysovirus dsRNAs. Because species of the genus Chrysovirus have only been described as infecting fungi, this suggests a fungal aetiology for CCRS and ACD, a proposal supported by the properties of two other CCRS- and ACD-associated dsRNAs (see accompanying paper by Coutts et al., 2004, in this issue).
Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale, Università di Napoli, 80055 Portici, Italy.|Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (UPV-CSIC), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Avenida de los Naranjos s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
Laura
L
Covelli
Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, Imperial College Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Robert H A
RHA
Coutts
Dipartimento di Protezione delle Piante e Microbiologia Applicata, Università degli Studi and Istituto di Virologia Vegetale del CNR, Sezione di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy.
Francesco Di
FD
Serio
Tekirdag Ziraat Fakültesi, Trakya Universitesi, 59030 Tekirdag, Turkey.
Ahmet
A
Citir
Adnan Menderes University, Agricultural Faculty, Plant Pathology Department, 09100 Aydin, Turkey.
Serap
S
Açıkgöz
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (UPV-CSIC), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Avenida de los Naranjos s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
Carmen
C
Hernández
Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale, Università di Napoli, 80055 Portici, Italy.
Antonio
A
Ragozzino
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (UPV-CSIC), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Avenida de los Naranjos s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
Ricardo
R
Flores
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010408:Penicillium chrysogenum / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D010942:Plant Viruses / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase