Analysis of the complete genome sequence of black queen-cell virus, a picorna-like virus of honey bees

• Published in: Journal of general virology Vol. 81; no. 8; pp. 2111 - 2119
• Main Authors: Leat, Neil, Ball, Brenda, Govan, Vandana, Davison, Sean
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Soc General Microbiol 01.08.2000
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Apidae; Apis mellifera; Base Sequence; Bees - virology; black queen-cell virus; Drosophila C virus; Genome, Viral; Himetobi P virus; honey bees; Molecular Sequence Data; Open Reading Frames; Phylogeny; Picornaviridae - classification; Picornaviridae - genetics; Picornaviridae - isolation & purification; Plautia stali intestine virus; Rhopalosiphum padi virus; South Africa; Viral Structural Proteins - analysis
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/0022-1317-81-8-2111

Department of Microbiology, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa 1 Author for correspondence: Neil Leat. Fax +27 21 959 2266. e-mail nleat{at}uwc.ac.za A virus with picorna-like biophysical properties was isolated from South African honey bees. On the basis of serology, it was identified as an isolate of black queen-cell virus (BQCV). Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed an 8550 nt polyadenylated genome containing two large ORFs. The 5'-proximal ORF (ORF 1) represented 4968 nt while the 3'-proximal ORF (ORF 2) represented 2562 nt. The ORFs were separated by a 208 nt intergenic region and were flanked by a 657 nt 5'-untranslated region and a 155 nt 3'-untranslated region. Deduced amino acid sequences for ORF 1 and ORF 2 were most similar to the non-structural and structural proteins, respectively, of Drosophila C virus (DCV), Rhopalosiphum padi virus (RhPV), Himetobi P virus (HiPV) and Plautia stali intestine virus (PSIV). It is proposed that BQCV belongs to the group of picorna-like, insect-infecting RNA viruses constituted by DCV, RhPV, HiPV and PSIV.