THE NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE COAT PROTEIN GENE AND 3'-UNTRANSLATED REGION OF AZUKI-BEAN MOSAIC POTYVIRUS, A MEMBER OF THE BEAN COMMON MOSAIC-VIRUS SUBGROUP

The relationship of azuki bean mosaic potyvirus (AzMV) to members of t he bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) subgroup has been unclear, Degenera te oligonucleotide primers and the polymerase chain reaction were used to amplify and clone the coat protein (CP) gene and 3' untranslated r egion (UTR) of AzMV. The deduced amino acid sequence of the CP is 94% identical to that of dendrobium mosaic virus, establishing the two as strains of the same virus. While the CP amino acid identities between AzMV and potyviruses of the BCMV species are at or below 90%, the 91 t o 94% identity between their UTRs suggests that AzMV could be consider ed a strain of BCMV. Interestingly, the grouping of potyviruses within the greater BCMV subgroup on a coat protein amino acid tree correlate s with a grouping based on the response elicited on bean containing th e I gene for resistance to BCMV.