NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE GENOMIC RNA OF PEPPER MILD MOTTLE VIRUS, A RESISTANCE-BREAKING TOBAMOVIRUS IN PEPPER

The entire genomic RNA of a Spanish isolate of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV-S), a resistance-breaking virus in pepper, was cloned and sequenced and shown to be similar to other tobamoviruses in its genomic organization. It consisted of 6357 nucleotides (nt) and contained four open reading frames (ORFs) which encode a 126 K protein and a readthrough 183 K protein (nt 70 to 4908), a 28 K protein (nt 4909 to 5682) and a 17.5 K coat protein (nt 5685 to 6158). This is the first tobamovirus in which none of the ORFs overlap. Both its nucleic acid and predicted protein sequences were compared with the previously determined sequences of other tobamoviruses. The variations and similarities found and their relationship with the pathogenicity of this virus are discussed.