Characterization of a novel dsRNA mycovirus isolated from strain A105 of Rhizoctonia solani AG-1 IA

Rhizoctonia solani dsRNA virus 3 (RsRV3), a novel mycovirus, was isolated from the rice sheath blight pathogen Rhizoctonia solani AG-1 IA strain A105. The RsRV3 genome consists of two segments of dsRNA (dsRNA1, 1,890 bp and dsRNA2, 1,811 bp). DsRNA1 has a single open reading frame (ORF) with a putative conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domain, and dsRNA2 comprises a single ORF, predicted to encode a coat protein. Purified viral particles of RsRV3 were isometric and measured approximately 20 nm in diameter by negative-stain transmission electron microscope (TEM). Phylogenetic analyses indicated that RsRV3 is highly similar to viruses taxonomically classified in the genus Alphapartitivirus, family Partitiviridae. Taken together, the integrative analyses of viral genomic organization, amino acid sequence alignments and phylogenetic analyses clearly demonstrate that the RsRV3 virus isolated from R. solani AG-1 IA strain A105 is classifiable as a new member of the genus Alphapartitivirus, family Partitiviridae.