Complete genome sequence of pleioblastus mosaic virus, a distinct member of the genus Potyvirus

Abstract

Pleioblastus mosaic virus (PleMV) is a tentative member of the genus Potyvirus in the family Potyviridae and was discovered in bamboo with mosaic symptoms in Tokyo, Japan. Since no information on the genome sequence of PleMV has been reported, its taxonomic position has long been uncertain. Here, we report the first complete genome sequences of two distinct PleMV isolates. Excluding the 3′-terminal poly(A) tail, their genomic RNA sequences consist of 9,634 and 9,643 nucleotides (nt); both contain a large open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein and a small ORF termed PIPO. The large ORFs of the two isolates share 79.2% and 87.6% sequence identity at the nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) level, respectively, and were found to have the highest nt and aa sequence identity (69.0% and 69.9%) to the potyvirus johnsongrass mosaic virus (JGMV). Phylogenetic analysis showed that PleMV is most closely related to JGMV but forms its own clade. These results suggest that PleMV is a distinct member of the genus Potyvirus.