Identification of a novel endornavirus in Geranium carolinianum and occurrence within three agroecosystems

• Published in: Virus research 2020-10, Vol.288, p.198116-198116, Article 198116
• Main Authors: Herschlag, Rachel, Okada, Ryo, Alcalá-Briseño, Ricardo Iván, de Souto, Eliezer Rodrigues, Valverde, Rodrigo A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alphaendornavirus; Endornaviridae; Geranium; Persistent virus; Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 3
• ISSN: 0168-1702; 1872-7492
• DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2020.198116

•A putative novel endornavirus species was isolated from Geranium carolinianum.•The virus was detected in 95% of the plants collected from three distinct agroecosystems.•Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the endornavirus clustered in a divergent clade within the genus Alphaendornavirus.•This is the first survey that tests for endornavirus occurrence within a single non-cultivated plant species. A putative endornavirus was detected in Carolina geranium (Geranium carolinianum) in Louisiana, USA. The virus was provisionally named Geranium carolinianum endornavirus 1 (GcEV1). The viral RNA was sequenced, and it consisted of 14,625 nt containing a single ORF coding a putative polyprotein of 4815 aa with conserved domains for a helicase 1, peptidase C97, glycosyl transferase GTB-type, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 2. The 5′end consisted of 130 nt while the 3′end consisted of 54 nt ending in nine cytosine residues. The closest relative to GcEV1 was Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 3. In phylogenetic analyses, GcEV1 clustered with members of the genus Alphaendornavirus. GcEV1 was detected in 57 of 60 G. carolinianum plants collected from three distinct agroecosystems. The virus was not detected in eight other species of the genus Geranium. There was no association of a particular phenotypic trait of the host with the presence or absence of the virus. GcEV1 was transmitted at a rate of 100% in seeds of a self-pollinated G. carolinianum plant.