Identification of a novel alphaendornavirus from Lonicera maackii

• Published in: Archives of virology Vol. 167; no. 2; pp. 675 - 679
• Main Authors: Dong, Zheng, Yin, Hang, Wang, Xulong, Lu, Shuhao, Zuo, Wenjie, Liu, Zhibin, Li, Yongqiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.02.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Annotated Sequence Record; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Chlorosis; DNA helicase; DNA-directed RNA polymerase; Genome, Viral; Genomes; Host plants; Infectious Diseases; Lonicera; Lonicera maackii; Medical Microbiology; Nucleotide sequence; Open Reading Frames; Phylogeny; Plant Diseases; RNA helicase; RNA polymerase; RNA, Viral - genetics; RNA-directed RNA polymerase; Viral Proteins - genetics; Virology
• ISSN: 0304-8608; 1432-8798
• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-021-05347-w

A new alphaendornavirus, tentatively named “Lonicera maackii alphaendornavirus” (LmEV), was identified in a Lonicera maackii plant in Beijing, China, with leaf abnormality of interveinal chlorosis, and its complete genome sequence was determined using small-RNA deep sequencing. The RNA genome of LmEV is 16,176 nt in length and contains a large open reading frame encoding a polyprotein of 5363 aa with conserved domains including a cysteine-rich region, a viral helicase, and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Sequence comparisons showed that LmEV shared the highest nt and aa sequence identity with Vicia faba alphaendornavirus (VfEV) of the genus Alphaendornavirus . In phylogenetic analysis of the RdRp aa sequence LmEV clustered with members of the genus Alphaendornavirus, closest to VfEV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a novel alphaendornavirus identified in Lonicera maackii. Its effect on the host plant, if any, remains to be investigated.