THE ENTIRE NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE AND GENOMIC ORGANIZATION OF POTATO AUCUBA MOSAIC POTEXVIRUS

The entire nucleotide sequence (7057 nucleotides) of cDNA clones of po tato aucuba mosaic virus (PAMV) was determined. The genome contains fi ve major putative open reading frames (ORFs), designated from the 5' t erminus as encoding putative proteins with M(r) of 187 379 (187 K), 26 326 (26 K), 12 101 (12 K), 8 183 (8 K) and 27 114 (27 K). The genomic organization of PAMV is essentially the same as that of several other potexviruses. The sizes and composition of the proteins encoded by th e ORFs are generally similar to those found in other potexviruses. The genome and the capsid protein gene of PAMV, are the largest among the potexviruses sequenced to date.