The identification, cloning, and sequence analysis of the coat protein coding region of a birch isolate (I2) of cherry leaf roll nepovirus.

The coat protein gene of RNA-2 of cherry leaf roll nepovirus (CLRV) birch isolate I2 was cloned, identified, and sequenced. Transcripts derived from cDNA to the coat protein gene made a polypeptide of M(r) 51.5 k when translated in vitro. The predicted amino acid sequence of the coat protein showed little identity with nepoviruses having small RNA-2s. It did, however, have 27% sequence identity with the coat protein of tomato ringspot nepovirus which, like CLRV, has a relatively large RNA-2.