SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF THE 3'-TERMINAL HALF OF RNA-1 OF WHEAT SPINDLE STREAK MOSAIC-VIRUS

cDNA complementary to the 3'-terminal half of RNA 1 of wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV) from Southern France has been cloned and sequenced. One large open reading frame (ORF) of 4410 nucleotides and a nontranslated region (NTR) of 213 nucleotides at the 3'-end excluding the poly(A)-tail were found. Because of the amino acid sequence homology to the polyprotein of barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) RNA 1, the encoded polyprotein of the sequenced region of WSSMV is supposed to comprise the C-terminal part of the putative cytoplasmic inclusion (CI) protein, the nuclear inclusion a (NIa) proteinase, the (NIb) RNA-polymerase and the capsid protein. The first 19 N-terminal amino acids of the capsid protein were determined by direct sequencing of proteins of purified WSSMV particles and confirmed this hypothesis. The deduced capsid protein has 294 amino acids and shows 74% identity with the BaYMV capsid protein sequence. This high sequence homology with BaYMV, in addition to the significant identities with barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV, 35%) and its marginal homology to capsid protein sequences of aphid and mite-borne potyviruses (22-24%), supports the classification of WSSMV as a distinct member of the genus Baymovirus, family Potyviridae.