Molecular characterisation of a putative new polerovirus infecting pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) in Kenya

Arch Virol. 2019 Jun;164(6):1717-1721. doi: 10.1007/s00705-019-04219-8. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

Abstract

Next-generation sequencing of RNA extracted from a pumpkin plant with mosaic symptoms in Kenya identified the presence of a polerovirus sequence closely related to pepo aphid-borne yellows virus (PABYV). The near-complete polerovirus sequence comprised 5,810 nucleotides and contained seven putative open reading frames (ORFs) with a genome organisation typical of poleroviruses. BLASTp analysis of the translated sequences of ORFs 0, 1 and 2 revealed that their amino acid sequences differed by more than 10% from the corresponding protein sequences of other poleroviruses. These results suggest that this virus is a putative novel member of the genus Polerovirus, which has been provisionally named "pumpkin polerovirus" (PuPV).

MeSH terms

  • Cucurbita / virology*
  • Genome Size
  • Genome, Viral
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Kenya
  • Luteoviridae / genetics
  • Luteoviridae / isolation & purification*
  • Open Reading Frames
  • Phylogeny
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA / methods*