Grapevine virus L: a Novel Vitivirus in Grapevine

Abstract

Vitivirus are ssRNA(+) viruses in the family Betaflexiviridae (subfamily Trivirinae). There are currently ten ICTV recognized virus species in the genus; nevertheless, the extended use of NGS technologies is rapidly expanding their diversity and six more have been proposed recently. Here, we present the characterization of a novel virus from grapevines, which fits the genomic architecture and evolutionary constraints to be classifiable within the Vitivirus genus. The detected virus sequence is 7,607 nt long, including a typical genome organization of ORFs encoding a replicase (RP), a 22 kDa protein, a movement protein, a coat protein (CP) and a nucleic acid binding protein. Here, we present the characterization of a novel virus from grapevines. Phylogenetic analyses based on the predicted RP and CP protein unequivocally places the new virus within the Vitivirus genus. Multiple independent RNAseq data confirmed the presence of the detected virus in berries at diverse developmental stages. Additionally, we detected, confirmed, and assembled virus sequences from grapevine samples of distinct cultivars from America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, sharing 74.9%-97.9% nt identity, suggesting that the identified virus is widely distributed and diverse. We propose the name grapevine virus L (GVL) to the detected Vitivirus.