Characterization of the complete genome of a novel allexivirus infecting Sauropus androgynus in China.

A new virus was found in Sauropus androgynus plants with curled and yellow leaves in China and tentatively named "Sauropus androgynus virus" (SaV). The complete genome of SaV is an 8007-nucleotide-long (+)RNA, excluding the 3'-poly(A) tail, and contains five open reading frames. Both pairwise comparisons and phylogenetic analysis of the putative replicase and coat proteins showed that SaV has a high level of sequence similarity to members of the genus Allexivirus of the family Alphaflexiviridae.

New persistent plant RNA virus carries mutations to weaken viral suppression of antiviral RNA interference.

Persistent plant viruses are widespread in natural ecosystems. However, little is known about why persistent infection with these viruses may cause little or no harm to their host. Here, we discovered a new polerovirus that persistently infected wild rice plants by deep sequencing and assembly of virus-derived small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs).