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Citrus exocortis viroid: nucleotide sequence and secondary structure of an Australian isolate
Author(s) -
Visvader Jane E.,
Gould Allan R.,
Bruening George E.,
Symons Robert H.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(82)80369-4
Subject(s) - viroid , library science , biology , virology , virus , computer science , plant virus
Exocortis or ‘scaly butt disease’ of citrus is distributed world-wide [I]. The causative agent is citrus exocortis viroid (CEV) [2,3] which is a member of that unique group of plant pathogens, the viroids, of which only 8 have been described [ 1,4,5]. Like other members of the group, CEV consists of a singlestranded covalently closed circular RNA molecule which is highly base-paired, rod-like, infectious and non-encapsidated [ 1,4]. The primary sequence and proposed secondary structure of only 3 viroids have been reported so far: potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV) with 359 residues [6]; chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSV) with 356 residues [7]; and avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBV) with 247 residues [8]. We report here the sequence and proposed secondary structure of the 371 residues of an Australian isolate of CEV and discuss the significance of the extensive sequence homology which exists between PSTV, CSV and CEV.