Biological properties of Beet mild yellowing virus derived from a full-length cDNA clone.

A German isolate of Beet mild yellowing virus (BMYV-IPP) was used for RT-PCR-based construction of the first infectious full-length cDNA clone of the virus (BMYV(fl)). The complete genomic sequence was determined and displayed high similarity to the French isolate BMYV-2ITB. The host range of BMYV(fl) was examined by agroinoculation and aphid transmission. Both methods lead to systemic infections in Beta vulgaris, Nicotiana benthamiana, N. clevelandii, N. hesperis, Capsella bursa-pastoris and Lamium purpureum. Immunological investigation by tissue-print immunoassay (TPIA) of agroinoculated plant tissues revealed only local infections restricted to the agroinoculated mesophyll tissues in some plant species. In Nicotiana glutinosa and N. edwardsonii, BMYV was not found in either the agroinoculated tissue or distant tissues by TPIA. So far, BMYV(fl) agroinoculation did not extend or confine the BMYV host range known from aphid transmission experiments but it did describe new local hosts for BMYV.

Biological properties and molecular characterization of beet chlorosis virus (BChV).

Two distinct viruses belonging to the Polerovirus genus, in the family Luteoviridae, have been described as being able to induce mild yellowing on sugar beet: Beet mild yellowing virus (BMYV) and more recently, beet chlorosis virus (BChV). We have analysed biological properties and molecular organisation of two strains of BChV, one collected in England and the second from California. The biological data suggested that BChV displayed a narrower host range compared to BMYV and Beet western yellows virus lettuce isolate (BWYV). The complete genomic RNA sequence of the American isolate BChV-California and the European isolate BChV-2a showed a genetic organisation and expression typical of other Polerovirus members including 6 open reading frames (ORFs). Interspecific and intraspecific phylogenetic studies suggested that BChV arose by recombination events between a Polerovirus-like ancestor donating P0 and the replicase complex and either a BMYV or a BWYV progenitor providing the 3' ORFs [3, 4 and 5]. The 5'- and 3'-parts of the BChV genome have evolved differently in the two continents, possibly due to different selection pressures to allow adaptation to the various environments, hosts and vectors. BChV is a distinct species of the Polerovirus genus.

Potato leafroll virus protein P1 contains a serine proteinase domain.

The multi-domain potato leafroll virus replicase protein P1 was expressed in insect cells from the polyhedrin promoter of Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus. Using antisera raised against P1, it was shown that P1 was cleaved near the VPg in insect cells in a manner similar to that in plant cells, to produce a approximately 27 kDa C-terminal fragment. Furthermore, it was shown that the proposed serine proteinase-like domain within P1 is responsible for this processing and that this can occur in a trans (intermolecular) reaction. Four conserved residues within the serine proteinase domain that are essential for catalysis have been identified, consistent with the proposal that this domain comprises a serine proteinase.

Nucleotide sequences of the 3' terminal region of onion yellow dwarf virus isolates from Allium plants in Japan.

The 2032 nucleotide sequence of the 3' terminal region of onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) isolated from Allium wakegi, bearing the genes for viral coat protein (CP) and a truncated RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, has been determined. Respective homologies of the nucleotide sequence in the corresponding region and the deduced amino acid sequence of CP with the equivalents of leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV) from garlic were 68.0 and 59.3%. Variation in the nucleotide sequence is concentrated in the boundary region between the putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene and the CP gene as well as in the 3' noncoding region. These sequence divergencies, including the deletion of 79 nucleotides, resulted both in alterations to the amino acid sequence and the absence of 28 amino acid residues in the amino terminal region of OYDV CP in comparison with LYSV CP. In addition, the length of the 3' noncoding sequence of OYDV was one-third that of LYSV. Comparison of the 3' terminal 1197 nucleotides sequence of OYDV with sequences of the respective cDNAs cloned by RT-PCR directly from the total RNA of infected Allium plants that included two varieties of A. fistulosum, "Wakenegi" and "Shimonita-negi", and A. chinense, showed 90.7% overall identities, even though they have long been cultivated in locally restricted area in Japan. These findings appear to suggest that a single strain of OYDV invaded Japanese Allium plants long ago and spread throughout them.