Identification and Characterization of a Novel Quanzhou Mulberry Virus from Mulberry (Morus alba)

Jia Wei; Lei Chen; Zilong Xu; Peigang Liu; Yan Zhu; Tianbao Lin; Lu Yang; Yuan Huang; Zhiqiang Lv

doi:10.3390/v15051131

Identification and Characterization of a Novel Quanzhou Mulberry Virus from Mulberry (Morus alba)

Viruses. 2023 May 9;15(5):1131. doi: 10.3390/v15051131.

Authors

Jia Wei¹, Lei Chen¹, Zilong Xu¹, Peigang Liu¹, Yan Zhu¹, Tianbao Lin¹, Lu Yang^{2

3}, Yuan Huang^{1

4}, Zhiqiang Lv¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sericulture and Tea, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 311251, China.
² Key Laboratory of Forest Resources and Utilization in Xinjiang of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Urumqi 830052, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Fruit Tree Species Breeding and Cultivation in Xinjiang, Urumqi 830052, China.
⁴ School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.

Abstract

In this study, we discovered a new virus named Quanzhou mulberry virus (QMV), which was identified from the leaves of an ancient mulberry tree. This tree is over 1300 years old and is located at Fujian Kaiyuan Temple, a renowned cultural heritage site in China. We obtained the complete genome sequence of QMV using RNA sequencing followed by rapid amplification of complementary DNA ends (RACE). The QMV genome is 9256 nucleotides (nt) long and encodes five open reading frames (ORFs). Its virion was made of icosahedral particles. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that it belongs to the unclassified Riboviria. An infectious clone for QMV was generated and agroinfiltrated into Nicotiana benthamiana and mulberry, resulting in no visible disease symptoms. However, systemic movement of the virus was only observed in mulberry seedlings, suggesting that it has a host-specific pattern of movement. Our findings provide a valuable reference for further studies on QMV and related viruses, contributing to the understanding of viral evolution and biodiversity in mulberry.

Keywords: Morus alba; Quanzhou mulberry virus; transcriptome sequencing; unclassified Riboviria; virus infection.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Morus*
Phylogeny
Plant Leaves
Sequence Analysis, RNA
Viruses*

Supplementary concepts

Morus alba

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ21C020001), the Key Scientific and Technological Grant of Zhejiang for Breeding New Agricultural Varieties (2021C02072-5), and the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-18-ZJ0203).