Authors: Anika Bartholomäus Daniel Wibberg Anika Winkler Alfred Pühler Andreas Schlüter Mark Varrelmann
Publish Date: 2016/10/12
Volume: 162, Issue: 2, Pages: 555-559
Abstract
The complete genome of a novel mycovirus named Rhizoctonia solani flexivirus 1 RsFV1 which infects an avirulent strain of Rhizoctonia solani AG 22 IV was sequenced and analyzed Its RNA genome consists of 10621 nucleotides excluding the polyA tail and encodes a single protein of 3477 amino acids The identification of conserved motifs of methyltransferase helicase and RNAdependent RNA polymerase revealed its relatedness to members of the alphaviruslike superfamily of positivestrand RNA viruses Phylogenetic analysis of these fused domains suggested that this virus should be assigned to the order Tymovirales The recently described Fusarium graminearum deltaflexivirus 1 was found to be its closest relative However the whole genome as well as the encoded protein of RsFV1 is larger than that of other known members of the order Tymovirales and unlike all other viruses belonging to this order its methyltransferase domain is not located at the Nterminus of the replicase Although genome diversity as a result of recombination and gene loss is a welldocumented trait in members of the order Tymovirales no related virus with a comparable genome alteration has been reported before For these reasons RsFV1 broadens our perception about genome plasticity and diversity within the order Tymovirales
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