Complete genome sequences of cowpea polerovirus 1 and cowpea polerovirus 2 infecting cowpea plants in Burkina Faso

The full-length genome sequences of two novel poleroviruses found infecting cowpea plants, cowpea polerovirus 1 (CPPV1) and cowpea polerovirus 2 (CPPV2), were determined using overlapping RT-PCR and RACE-PCR. Whereas the 5845-nt CPPV1 genome was most similar to chickpea chlorotic stunt virus (73% identity), the 5945-nt CPPV2 genome was most similar to phasey bean mild yellow virus (86% identity). The CPPV1 and CPPV2 genomes both have a typical polerovirus genome organization. Phylogenetic analysis of the inferred P1-P2 and P3 amino acid sequences confirmed that CPPV1 and CPPV2 are indeed poleroviruses. Four apparently unique recombination events were detected within a dataset of 12 full polerovirus genome sequences, including two events in the CPPV2 genome. Based on the current species demarcation criteria for the family Luteoviridae, we tentatively propose that CPPV1 and CPPV2 should be considered members of novel polerovirus species.