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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #307491
Title: Molecular characterization and population structure of Blueberry mosaic associated virus

Author
item THEKKE-VEETIL, T - University Of Arkansas
item Polashock, James
item MARN, M - Agricultural Institute Of Slovenia
item PLESKO, I - Agricultural Institute Of Slovenia
item Keller, Karen
item Martin, Robert
item HO, T - University Of Arkansas
item TZANETAKIS, I - University Of Arkansas

Submitted to: Electronic Publication
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/4/2014
Publication Date: 3/9/2015
Citation: Thekke-Veetil, T., Polashock, J.J., Marn, M.V., Plesko, I.M., Keller, K.E., Martin, R.R., Ho, T., Tzanetakis, I.E. 2015. Molecular characterization and population structure of Blueberry mosaic associated virus. Proceedings of the North American Blueberry Research and Extension Workers Conference. doi:10.7282/T3JQ12PG.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Blueberry mosaic disease was first described in the 1950s but the causal agent has not been characterized to date. Next generation sequencing was employed in the identification of the causal agent and an undescribed ophiovirus, tentatively named as Blueberry mosaic associated virus (BlMaV), was detected in diseased plants. The segmented genome of the virus is comprised of three negative-sense RNAs (RNAs 1-3) encoding four proteins. The population structure of the virus was studied in detail using 59 isolates collected from various blueberry growing regions of North America and Slovenia. The open reading frames of RNAs 2 and 3 were analyzed; revealing stringent purification selection for both proteins. The information acquired will provide valuable data for the development of reliable assays, able to detect the widest arrays of BlMaV isolates.