title: Molecular characterisation of novel mitoviruses associated with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
abstract: Seven putative mitoviral genomes, representing four species from three Sclerotinia sclerotiorum isolates, were fully sequenced. The genome lengths ranged from 2438 to 2815 nucleotides. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of one genome shared high amino acid (aa) sequence identity (98.5 %) with the previously described Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mitovirus 2 (SsMV2/NZ1) and was provisionally assigned the name SsMV2/14563. The RdRps of three of the genomes with closest aa sequence identity of 78.8-79.3 % to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mitovirus 1 (SsMV1/KL1) were provisionally considered to represent a new species, and the corresponding virus was named Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mitovirus 5 (SsMV5/11691, SsMV5/14563 and SsMV5/Lu471). The remaining two novel genomes, for which the viruses were provisionally named Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mitovirus 6 (SsMV6/14563 and SsMV6/Lu471) and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mitovirus 7 (SsMV7/Lu471), showed closest aa sequence identities to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mitovirus 3 (SsMV3/NZ1; 57.5-57.8 %) and Cryphonectria cubensis mitovirus 1a (CcMV1a; 32 %), respectively. The RdRp proteins of all seven genomes contained the conserved aa sequence motifs (I-IV) previously reported for mitoviruses, and their 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) have the potential to fold into stem-loop secondary structures.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, PO Box 92019, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand, mkha201@aucklanduni.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Mahmoud E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Khalifa
authors.forename: Michael N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Pearson
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase