Published in:
01-04-2016 | Brief Report
Identification and in silico characterisation of defective molecules associated with isolates of banana bunchy top virus
Authors:
Daisy Stainton, Darren P. Martin, David A. Collings, John E. Thomas, Arvind Varsani
Published in:
Archives of Virology
|
Issue 4/2016
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Abstract
Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) is a multi-component single-stranded DNA virus. From 267 potentially infected Musa plants, 24 apparently ‘defective’ BBTV components have been identified. Interestingly, 23/24 of these defective molecules were apparently derived from DNA-R. All of the identified defective molecules had retained at least part of the CR-SL and CR-M but had insertions and/or deletions that in most cases resulted in open reading frame disruptions. Our detection of three monophyletic but diverse (and therefore likely circulating) defective DNA-R lineages suggests that, in many cases, defective DNA-R molecules might remain associated with BBTV genomes for prolonged periods.