THE NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF CITRUS LEAF RUGOSE ILARVIRUS RNA-2

The nucleotide sequence of citrus leaf rugose ilarvirus (CiLRV) RNA-2 consists of 2990 nucleotides and contains one open reading frame (ORF) which encodes a deduced translation product of 832 amino acids with a calculated M(r) of 95501 (95K). The 5' terminus of the RNA has a m(7)Gppp cap. Both the nucleotide sequence of CiLRV RNA-2 and its translated polypeptide share homologies with the nucleotide sequence and translated polypeptide, respectively, of RNA-2 of alfalfa mosaic virus (AIMV). The homology occurs in the central region of both the nucleic acid sequence and the polypeptide. Homologies between either CiLRV or AIMV and other Bromoviridae (cucumber mosaic virus - CMV, brome mosaic virus - BMV and cowpea chlorotic mottle virus - CCMV) were far less. Alignment of the 104 amino acid region (polymerase signature) ofthe 95K protein against 10 other 'alpha-like' plant viral polymerase signatures showed that CiLRV and AIMV are more closely related to each other than to CMV, BMV or CCMV. This is the first report ofthe full-length sequence of RNA-2 of an ilarvirus.