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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » National Germplasm Resources Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #340564
Title: Identification and genome characterization of a new virus infecting the weed Sorghum almum in Florida

Author
item Mollov, Dimitre
item Grinstead, Sam
item TAHIR, MUHAMMAD - National Agricultural Research Center - Pakistan
item ROTT, PHILIPPE - University Of Florida

Submitted to: Sugar Journal
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2017
Publication Date: 6/1/2017
Citation: Mollov, D.S., Grinstead, S.C., Tahir, M., Rott, P. 2017. Identification and genome characterization of a new virus infecting the weed Sorghum almum in Florida. Sugar Journal. 80:16.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Sorghum almum is a common weed in the Everglades Agricultural Area in Florida where sugarcane is a major crop. This weed was recently found to be a naturally occurring host of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus and Sugarcane mosaic virus. In this study, high throughput sequencing detected additional viruses in S. almum that potentially infect sugarcane. Over 13 million reads were assembled into 60,000 contigs, five of which were related to marafivirus sequences. These contigs represent at least two distinct virus isolates found in one plant from Florida. Both have similarity to Maize rayado fino virus (62%) and to Nectarine marafivirus M (61%) from the genus Marafivirus, family Tymoviridae. Both isolates are predicted to produce a single polyprotein and have a genome length of about 6.2 kb, consistent with other marafiviruses. These two isolates share 82% identity at the nucleotide level based on whole genomic sequences. In phylogenetic trees based on whole genomic sequences, these new virus isolates grouped with Blackberry virus S, Grapevine Syrah virus 1, Maize rayado fino virus, Nectarine marafivirus M, and Oat blue dwarf virus. These are all members of the genus Marafivirus and form a distinct cluster from the Tymovirus and Maculavirus genera within the family Tymoviridae. The new virus of S. almum has been provisionally named Sorghum almum marafivirus (SaMV). Future work will include sequencing additional isolates and developing diagnostic methods to study the distribution of SaMV and its potential effect on sugarcane production.