The complete genome sequence of a double-stranded RNA mycovirus from Fusarium graminearum strain HN1.

The complete nucleotide sequence of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus, Fusarium graminearum dsRNA virus 5 (FgV5), was identified and characterized. The FgV5 genome comprises two dsRNA genome segments of 2030 bp and 1740 bp. FgV5 dsRNA1 contains a single open reading frame (ORF1), which is predicted to encode a protein of 613 amino acids (aa) with a molecular mass of 70.4 kDa and has a conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) motif. FgV5 dsRNA2 is predicted to contain two discontinuous ORFs (ORF2 and ORF3) that code for products of unknown function. Sequence comparisons showed that FgV5 has the highest aa sequence identities to Fusarium graminearum virus 4 (FgV4) (83.01% for ORF1, 78.70% for ORF2, and 76.27% for ORF3), suggesting that FgV5 and FgV4 should be regarded as members of different species. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that FgV5 belongs to a taxonomically unassigned dsRNA mycovirus group that is related to the families Amalgaviridae and Partitiviridae. Here, we propose that FgV5 and related viruses are members of a yet to be named and formally recognized new family.