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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #295602
Title: The complete nucleotide sequence of the Barley yellow dwarf virus-RMV genome reveals it to be a new Polerovirus distantly related to other yellow dwarf viruses

Author
item KRUEGER, ELIZABETH - Iowa State University
item BECKETT, RANDY - Iowa State University
item Gray, Stewart
item MILLER, W. ALLEN - Iowa State University

Submitted to: Frontiers in Virology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/23/2013
Publication Date: 7/23/2013
Citation: Krueger, E.N., Beckett, R.J., Gray, S.M., Miller, W. 2013. The complete nucleotide sequence of the Barley yellow dwarf virus-RMV genome reveals it to be a new Polerovirus distantly related to other yellow dwarf viruses. Frontiers in Virology. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00205.

Interpretive Summary: The yellow dwarf group of plant viruses infect all the different cereal crops and cause similar disease symptoms, but differed by which aphid species was the most efficient vector. Historically, the viruses were all named barley yellow dwarf virus with an extension on the name to identify the primary aphid vector of that virus. With the advent of new diagnostic technologies that used the genome properties of the viruses, it became clear that the various barley yellow dwarf viruses were actually very different virus species and the names of the viruses have been changing to reflect the new information. This paper investigates a yellow dwarf virus that is primarily associated with an aphid vector that prefers to feed on corn and therefore the virus is often found associated with disease of corn. We discovered that the configuration and sequence of the genome of this virus is unique relative to other yellow dwarf virus species. Based on the genetic and biological differences we are proposing to rename this virus Maize yellow dwarf virus-RMV (MYDV-RMV) to reflect its separation from the other yellow dwarf viruses, e.g. Barley yellow dwarf virus and Cereal yellow dwarf virus, and to reflect its primary aphid vector and its primary host plant.

Technical Abstract: The yellow dwarf viruses (YDVs) of the Luteoviridae family represent the most widespread group of cereal viruses worldwide. They include the Barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDVs) of genus Luteovirus, the Cereal yellow dwarf viruses (CYDVs) and Wheat yellow dwarf virus (WYDV) of genus Polerovirus. All of these viruses are obligately aphid transmitted and phloem-limited. The first described YDVs (initially all called BYDV) were classified by their most efficient vector. One of these viruses, BYDV-RMV, is transmitted most efficiently by the corn leaf aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis. Here we report the complete 5612 nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of BYDV-RMV (Genbank accession no. KC921392). The sequence revealed that BYDV-RMV is a polerovirus, but it is not closely related to the CYDVs or WYDV, which are very closely related to each other. Nor is BYDV-RMV closely related to any other particular polerovirus. Different poleroviruses (none of them a YDV) share closest sequence similarity to BYDV-RMV, depending on the gene that is compared. Because of its distant relationship to other YDVs, and because it commonly infects maize via its vector, R. maidis, we propose that BYDV-RMV be renamed Maize yellow dwarf virus-RMV (MYDV-RMV).