title: Nucleotide sequences of four RNA segments of a reovirus isolated from the mud crab Scylla serrata provide evidence that this virus belongs to a new genus in the family Reoviridae.
abstract: This is the first sequence-based characterization of mud crab (Scylla serrata) reovirus (SsRV), which causes severe disease of cultured mud crabs in southern China. We sequenced and analyzed genome segments S1, S2, S3, and S7, which were 4,327, 2,721, 2,715, and 1,517 nucleotides long, respectively. Conserved motifs were found at the 5' (AUAAAU) and 3' (AACGAU) ends of each segment. RNA segments S1, S2, S3, and S7 each contained a single open reading frame (ORF) that encoded predicted proteins of 160, 100, 96, and 46 kDa, respectively. The ORFs of segments S1 and S2 showed distant homologies (< 25%) with cognate genes of other reoviruses, whereas the ORFs of segments S3 and S7 had no homologies with any other viral genes. Based on these observations, we propose that SsRV should be considered a member of a new genus in the family Reoviridae.
authors.affiliation: College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Wanli University, No.8, South Qianhu Road, Ningbo 315100, Zhejiang Province, China. genomic@163.com
authors.forename: Jigang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Jifang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhijuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Xiaoxuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D003386:Brachyura / Q000821:virology*; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D012087:Reoviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins