Genomic characterisation of taro bacilliform virus

• Published in: Archives of virology Vol. 148; no. 5; pp. 937 - 949
• Main Authors: YANG, I. C, HAFNER, G. J, DALE, J. L, HARDING, R. M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wien Springer 01-05-2003; New York, NY Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Badnavirus - chemistry; Badnavirus - genetics; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Colocasia - virology; Conserved Sequence; Disease; Flowers & plants; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics; Genome, Viral; Genomes; Infections; Islands; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Open Reading Frames; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Plant Diseases - virology; Sugarcane; Virology; Viruses; Papua New Guinea; Solomon Islands; Virus; Phylogeny; Nucleotide sequence; Genome
• ISSN: 0304-8608; 1432-8798
• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-002-0969-1

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.