Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Recombinant Citrus
Tristeza Virus, a Resistance-Breaking Isolate from Uruguay
María José Benítez-Galeano,
a
Thomas Vallet,
b
Lucía Carrau,
b
Lester Hernández-Rodríguez,
c
Ana Bertalmío,
c
Fernando Rivas,
c
Leticia Rubio,
c
Diego Maeso,
c
Marco Vignuzzi,
b
Gonzalo Moratorio,
b
Rodney Colina
a
a
Laboratory of Molecular Virology, University of the Republic, Salto, Uruguay
b
Institut Pasteur, Viral Populations and Pathogenesis, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 3569,
Paris, France
c
National Institute of Agricultural Research, Salto, Uruguay
ABSTRACT We report here the complete genome sequence of a Citrus tristeza virus
(CTV) from Uruguay, sequenced by using Illumina and Sanger sequencing technol-
ogy. This CTV DSST-17 genome clustered within genotype resistance breaking (RB)
and presents two recombination events.
C
itrus crops are among the most important commercial fruit crops worldwide. Citrus
tristeza virus (CTV) (Closterovirus, Closteroviridae) is one of the most destructive
pathogens that affects citrus trees around the world and has been responsible for the
loss of over 100 million trees in the past 70 years (1). Depending on the viral strain and
on the species or scion-rootstock combination, CTV may cause three distinct host
reactions, named seedling yellows, quick decline, and stem pitting, of which the last
two are significant problems for citrus cultivation (2).
The CTV genome, the largest plant virus reported so far, is a single-stranded
positive-sense RNA molecule of approximately 19.3 kb in length, containing 12 open
reading frames (ORFs) that encode at least 19 proteins (3). Genetic studies of different
strains of CTV revealed the existence of seven distinct genetic lineages or genotypes
worldwide, known as VT, T3, T30, T36, T68, resistance breaking (RB), and NC (4, 5). The
RB genotype, described for the first time in New Zealand by Dawson and Mooney, is the
only CTV-infecting genotype capable of overcoming the trifoliate-rootstock resistance
due to the ability of replication and systemic movement throughout Poncirus trifoliata
(6). Last year, Hernández-Rodríguez and coworkers reported a New Hall sweet orange
tree infected with the CTV-RB genotype in Uruguay, but only partial sequences were
available (7).
In the present study, subisolate DSST-17, obtained by single aphid transmission from
a field sample collected in 2014 in Salto, Uruguay, from a Navelina sweet orange, was
subjected to Illumina sequencing technology. Total RNA was extracted using the
RNeasy plant minikit (Qiagen) and submitted to RNA library preparation with a NEBNext
Ultra II RNA library prep kit (Illumina). The library was sequenced using the NextSeq 500
system platform (Illumina). Reads were trimmed (quality limit 0.02; Phred score 30)
and assembled with CLC Genomics Workbench version 11. After trimming, reads with
an average length of 150 nucleotides (nt) were used to generate through de novo
assembly a long contig of 19,269 nt. The complete genome obtained was compared
with all available full genomes of the GenBank database using MEGA 6 (8). Phylogenetic
analysis grouped the DSST-17 isolate within the RB genotype with a genome nucleotide
identity ranging from 94.1% to 99.6%. Strikingly, the highest similarity was with isolate
B390-5 (GenBank accession number KU883265) from South Africa, which has weather
conditions similar to those of Uruguay. A recombination analysis using the Recombi-
nation Detection program version 4 and SimPlot program version 3.5.1 was performed
Received 19 April 2018 Accepted 24 April
2018 Published 31 May 2018
Citation Benítez-Galeano MJ, Vallet T, Carrau L,
Hernández-Rodríguez L, Bertalmío A, Rivas F,
Rubio L, Maeso D, Vignuzzi M, Moratorio G,
Colina R. 2018. Complete genome sequence of
a novel recombinant Citrus tristeza virus,a
resistance-breaking isolate from Uruguay.
Genome Announc 6:e00442-18. https://doi
.org/10.1128/genomeA.00442-18.
Copyright © 2018 Benítez-Galeano et al. This is
an open-access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International license.
Address correspondence to Rodney Colina,
rodneycolina1@gmail.com.
G.M. and R.C. contributed equally to this work.
VIRUSES
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