Complete genomic sequence of watermelon bud necrosis virus

Excerpt

Watermelon bud necrosis virus (WBNV) is one of the major limiting factors in production of cucurbits in India, causing losses up to 100% in watermelon in some growing areas [8, 15]. Based on the previously determined nucleocapsid (N) protein coding sequence of WBNV S RNA, this virus is considered to belong to a tentative new tospovirus species [9]. Although the complete S RNA and M RNA sequences of WBNV were determined recently [11], these sequences were obtained from different virus isolates, and knowledge of the detailed characteristics of the complete genome of a WBNV isolate is therefore still lacking. In this investigation, the full-length genomic sequence, including the L, M and S RNA segments, of a watermelon isolate of WBNV originating from southern India was completely determined and analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences of all of the viral proteins, N, NSs, NSm, glycoprotein (GP) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) indicates that WBNV is closely related to watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) [16], peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV) [14] and capsicum chlorosis virus (CaCV) [10]. …