title: A novel mycovirus that is related to the human pathogen hepatitis E virus and rubi-like viruses.
abstract: Previously, we reported that three double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) segments, designated L-, M-, and S-dsRNAs, were detected in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum strain Ep-1PN. Of these, the M-dsRNA segment was derived from the genomic RNA of a potexvirus-like positive-strand RNA virus, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum debilitation-associated RNA virus. Here, we present the complete nucleotide sequence of the L-dsRNA, which is 6,043 nucleotides in length, excluding the poly(A) tail. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of a single open reading frame (nucleotide positions 42 to 5936) that encodes a protein with significant similarity to the replicases of the "alphavirus-like" supergroup of positive-strand RNA viruses. A sequence comparison of the L-dsRNA-encoded putative replicase protein containing conserved methyltransferase, helicase, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase motifs showed that it has significant sequence similarity to the replicase of Hepatitis E virus, a virus infecting humans. Furthermore, we present convincing evidence that the virus-like L-dsRNA could replicate independently with only a slight impact on growth and virulence of its host. Our results suggest that the L-dsRNA from strain Ep-1PN is derived from the genomic RNA of a positive-strand RNA virus, which we named Sclerotinia sclerotiorum RNA virus L (SsRV-L). As far as we know, this is the first report of a positive-strand RNA mycovirus that is related to a human virus. Phylogenetic and sequence analyses of the conserved motifs of the RNA replicase of SsRV-L showed that it clustered with the rubi-like viruses and that it is related to the plant clostero-, beny- and tobamoviruses and to the insect omegatetraviruses. Considering the fact that these related alphavirus-like positive-strand RNA viruses infect a wide variety of organisms, these findings suggest that the ancestral positive-strand RNA viruses might be of ancient origin and/or they might have radiated horizontally among vertebrates, insects, plants, and fungi.
authors.affiliation: Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huiquan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Daohong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Youliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Xianhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Said A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ghabrial
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000821:virology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D017863:Potexvirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase