Identification and characterization of the potato leafroll virus putative coat protein gene.

Complementary DNA clones representing approximately 6100 nucleotides of potato leafroll virus (PLRV) were generated, restriction-mapped, and partially sequenced. Within one of the cDNA clones an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 23K protein was identified and further characterized. Amino acid sequence comparison of this protein showed significant homology (47.1%) with the barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV-PAV) coat protein. This and other observations suggested that this gene encodes the PLRV coat protein. Other similarities were observed between PLRV and BYDV sequences in this region of their genomes, including an ORF of 17K within the ORF encoding the 23K putative coat protein.