Citrus psorosis virus RNA1 is of negative polarity and potentially encodes in its complementary strand a 24K protein of unknown function and 280K putative RNA dependent RNA polymerase

G. NAUM-ONGANÍA, S. GAGO-ZACHERT, E. PEÑA, O. GRAU AND M.L. GARCIA

VIRUS RESEARCH

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2003 p. 49 - 61

0168-1702

RNA 1 revealed a size of 8184 nucleotides and Northern blot hybridization with chain specific probes showed that its non-coding strand is preferentially encapsidated. The complementary strand of RNA 1 contains two open reading frames (ORFs) separated by a 109-nt intergenic region, one located near the 5?-end potentially encoding a 24K protein of unknown function, and another of 280K containing the core polymerase motifs characteristic of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp). Comparison of the core RdRp motifs of negative-stranded RNA viruses, supports grouping CPsV, Ranunculus white mottle virus (RWMV) and Mirafiori lettuce virus (MiLV) within the same genus (Ophiovirus ), constituting a monophyletic group separated from all other negative stranded RNA viruses. Furthermore, RNAs 1 of MiLV, CPsV and RWMV are similar in size and those of MiLV and CPsV also in genomic organization and sequence.