UC Riverside

The nucleotide sequence of Dweet mottle virus (DMV) was determined and compared to sequences of members of the families Alphaflexiviridae and Betaflexiviridae. The DMV genome has 8,747 nucleotides (nt) excluding the 3′ poly-(A) tail. DMV genomic RNA contains three putative open reading frames (ORFs) and untranslated regions of 73 nt at the 5′ and 541 nt at 3′ termini. ORF1 potentially encoding a 227.48-kDa polyprotein, which has methyltransferase, oxygenase, endopeptidase, helicase, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) domains. ORF2 encodes a movement protein of 40.25 kDa, while ORF3 encodes a coat protein of 40.69 kDa. Protein database searches showed 98–99% matches of DMV ORFs with citrus leaf blotch virus (CLBV) sequences. Phylogenetic analysis based on the RdRP core domain revealed that DMV is closely related to CLBV as a member of the genus Citrivirus. DMV did not satisfy the molecular criteria for demarcation of an independent species within the genus Citrivirus, family Betaflexiviridae, and hence, DMV can be considered a CLBV isolate.