The Complete Nucleotide Sequence of Plum Pox Virus RNA

The complete nucleotide sequence of the RNA of an aphid non-transmissible plum pox virus (PPV-NAT) isolate has been determined from five overlapping cDNA clones. cDNA prepared by primer extension was used to determine the 5' terminus. The assembled RNA is 9741 nucleotides in length, excluding a 3' terminal poly(A) sequence. One large open reading frame starts at nucleotide positions 36 to 38 and is terminated with an UAG codon at positions 9522 to 9524. The putative start codon is located at positions 147 to 149. The encoded polyprotein has a predicted Mr of 353.8K. Comparison of cistrons from tobacco vein mottling virus and tobacco etch virus with those predicted for PPV-NAT indicated a similar genome organization. A highly conserved sequence of 12 nucleotides was found in the 5' non-coding region of these three potyviruses. The potential polyadenylation signal from yeast (UAUGU) was found in the 3' non-coding region of PPV-NAT and several other members of the potyvirus group.