Blueberry mosaic associated virus-a putative, new member of Ophioviridae

Blueberry mosaic disease was first reported in 1957 and is now known to occur in most blueberry producing areas around the world. A new virus, closely associated with the disease has been recently identified. The virus, tentatively named Blueberry mosaic associated virus (BlMaV), is a putative member of the genus Ophiovirus with a genome comprised of three negative-sense RNAs (RNAs 1-3). Genome organization and phylogenetic analysis indicates that BlMaV resembles Citrus psorosis virus, the type member of the family Ophioviridae. RNA 1 encodes two proteins, a 23 kDa protein of unknown function and a 272 kDa replicase. RNAs 2 and 3 encode for a putative 58 kDa movement protein and the 50 kDa nucleocapsid protein, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses conducted on 1200 nucleotides of coding regions in RNAs 2 and 3 of 59 North American and European isolates revealed significant amino acid conservation among isolates.