Short report
A divergent variant of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 is present in California
1 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Rd, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
2 Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Virology Journal 2012, 9:235 doi:10.1186/1743-422X-9-235
Published: 13 October 2012Abstract
Background
Grapevine leafroll-associated viruses are a problem for grape production globally. Symptoms are caused by a number of distinct viral species. During a survey of Napa Valley vineyards (California, USA), we found evidence of a new variant of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3). We isolated its genome from a symptomatic greenhouse-raised plant and fully sequenced it.
Findings
In a maximum likelihood analysis of representative GLRaV-3 gene sequences, the isolate grouped most closely with a recently sequenced variant from South Africa and a partial sequence from New Zealand. These highly divergent GLRaV-3 variants have predicted proteins that are more than 10% divergent from other GLRaV-3 variants, and appear to be missing an open reading frame for the p6 protein.
Conclusions
This divergent GLRaV-3 phylogroup is already present in grape-growing regions worldwide and is capable of causing symptoms of leafroll disease without the p6 protein.
