Molecular characterization of a novel victorivirus isolated from Stagonosporopsis citrulli

Abstract

Members of the fungal genus Stagonosporopsis are important plant pathogens that can cause severe disease on a wide range of economically important plants and crops. Here, a novel victorivirus, tentatively named "Stagonosporopsis citrulli victorivirus 1" (SciVV1), was isolated from S. citrulli isolate HS2-8. The SciVV1 genome is 5,163 nucleotides in length, with a predicted GC content of 63.85%, and contains two open reading frames (ORF1 and ORF2), which overlap at an AUGA sequence. ORF1 and ORF2 are predicted to encode a coat protein (CP) and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). A phylogenetic tree based on RdRp amino acid (aa) sequences showed that SciVV1 clustered together with members of the genus Victorivirus in the family Pseudototiviridae. Our results indicate that SciVV1 is a novel victorivirus. This is the first report of the complete genome sequence of SciVV1 infecting S. citrulli.