Complete Genome Sequence of an Isolate of Passiflora chlorosis virus from Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims)

Abstract

We report the first complete genome sequence of an isolate of Passiflora chlorosis virus (PaCV), a member of the Potyviridae family, identified in passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims) plants grown in Israel. The assembled genome is 9672 nucleotides long and encodes a 3084 amino acids polyprotein that is predicted to be proteolytically cleaved into 10 mature peptides. Our analysis of the genome sequence shows that PaCV is a distinct species, sharing 68.5% nucleotide sequence identity and 71.5% amino acid sequence identity with isolates of the bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV), the most closely related virus classified within the genus Potyvirus. Using quantitative PCR, we detected the virus in RNA samples from leaves exhibiting symptoms of infection, with higher levels in clearly chlorotic leaves, but not in those from healthy leaves.

Molecular Characterization of an Isolate of Bean Common Mosaic Virus First Identified in Gardenia Using Metatranscriptome and Small RNA Sequencing

“…The transmission routes of BCMV are highly diverse, including transmission through seeds, pollen, aphids, and mechanical inoculation. When we inspected the polyprotein of BCMV-gardenia, we found the presence of some known sequence motifs required for systemic movement and aphid transmission, including “KLSC” (polyprotein amino acid position 496–499), “CCC” (position 734–736), “PTK” (position 752–754) motifs in HC-Pro, as well as “DAG” motif (position 1815–1817) near N-terminus of the coat protein ( Atreya et al, 1991 ; Fresnillo et al, 2022 ; Maia et al, 1996 ). Since there were no leguminous crops around the gardenia we sampled in a small garden in Ningbo University, we speculated that BCMV infection of gardenia might be caused by the feeding activities of aphids flying from other places.…”