Biological and Molecular Characterization of Melon‐Infecting Kyuri Green Mottle Mosaic Virus in Indonesia

AbstractMelon (Cucumis melo L.) plants showing fruit deformation and mosaic symptoms were found in Java, Indonesia, in 2001. Leaf dips of the symptomatic melon tissue revealed rod‐shaped viral particles 300 × 18 nm in size. Biological and serological data described in this study indicate that the virus belonged to the genus tobamovirus and was related to the kyuri green mottle mosaic virus (KGMMV). The genome of the virus has been completely sequenced, consisting of 6512 nucleotides and was compared in detail with KGMMV‐C1 and KGMMV‐Y. The sequence of their 5′‐ and 3′‐ non‐coding regions (NCRs) were 91% and 94% identical to KGMMV‐C1, and only 82% and 95% identical to KGMMV‐Y respectively. The amino acid sequence of the shorter and longer RNA replicase components, movement protein and coat protein were 94%, 91%, 95% and 94% identical to KGMMV‐C1 and 93%, 89%, 91% and 85% identical of KGMMV‐Y respectively. The results from phylogenetic analysis of the coding regions revealed that KGMMV‐YM is a new strain of KGMMV. This is the first report of the complete nucleotide sequence and analysis of genome organization for KGMMV isolated in anywhere in South‐East Asia.