NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE CAPSID PROTEIN GENE OF PAPAYA LEAF-DISTORTION MOSAIC POTYVIRUS

The DNA complementary to the 3'-terminal 1404 nucleotides [excluding t he poly(A) tail] of papaya leaf-distortion mosaic potyvirus (PLDMV) RN A was cloned and sequenced. The sequence starts within a long open rea ding frame (ORF) of 1 195 nucleotides and is followed by a 31 non-codi ng region of 209 nucleotides. Capsid protein (CP) is encoded at the 3' terminus of the ORF. The CP contains 293 residues and has a M(r) of 3 3 277. The CP of PLDMV exhibits 49 to 59% sequence similarity at the a mino acid level to the CPs of papaya ringspot potyvirus (PRSV) and oth er potyviruses. This result is consistent with the absence of a serolo gical relationship between PLDMV and PRSV or other potyviruses. The re sults support the assignment of PLDMV as a distinct member of the genu s Potyvirus.