Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) populations in citrus trees are unusually complex mixtures of viral genotypes and defective RNAs developed during the long-term vegetative propagation of the virus and by additional mixing by aphid transmission. The viral replication process allows the maintenance of minor amounts of disparate genotypes and defective RNAs in these populations. CTV is a member of the Closteroviridae possessing a positive-stranded RNA genome of Ϸ20 kilobases that expresses the replicase-associated genes as an Ϸ400-kDa polyprotein and the remaining 10 3 genes through subgenomic mRNAs. A full-length cDNA clone of CTV was generated from which RNA transcripts capable of replication in protoplasts were derived. The large size of cDNA hampered its use as a genetic system. Deletion of 10 3 genes resulted in an efficient RNA replicon that was easy to manipulate. To investigate the origin and maintenance of the genotypes in CTV populations, we tested the CTV replicase for its acceptance of divergent sequences by creating chimeric replicons with heterologous termini and examining their ability to replicate. Exchange of the similar 3 termini resulted in efficient replication whereas substitution of the divergent (up to 58% difference in sequence) 5 termini resulted in reduced but significant replication, generally in proportion to the extent of sequence divergence.

The complete, 19226 nt sequence of the RNA genome from VT, a seedling yellows strain of citrus tristeza virus (CTV), was determined and found to have a genome organization identical with that of the previously determined CTV-T36 isolate, except that ORF 1 of CTV-VT was 70 nt shorter due to two widely separated 18 nt deletions. Sequence comparison of CTV-VT and CTV-T36 revealed approximately 89% identity throughout the ten 3' ORFs, but only 60-70% identitythroughout ORF 1. The 5' nontranslated regions were only 60% identical whereas the 3' nontranslated regions were 97% identical. The transition between regions of similarity and deviation was gradual, suggesting that the sequence similarities and differences compared to CTV-T36 were unlikely to have arisen from a recent recombination event between a close T36 relative and a distantly related CTV isolate. This is the first attempt to compare in detail the variation between the genomes of two strains of a member of the closterovirus group. The observed deviation between the large RNA genomes of the two CTV strains is greater than that among different viruses of most other groups, raising the question of how to define the taxonomy of these viruses.

Assembly of the viral genome into virions is a critical process of the virus life cycle often defining the ability of the virus to move within the plant and to be transmitted horizontally to other plants. Closteroviridae virions are polar helical rods assembled primarily by a major coat protein, but with a related minor coat protein at one end. The Closteroviridae is the only virus family that encodes a protein with similarity to cellular chaperones, a 70-kDa heat-shock protein homolog (HSP70h). We examined the involvement of gene products of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) in virion formation and found that the chaperone-like protein plus the p61 and both coat proteins were required for efficient virion assembly. Competency of virion assembly of different CTV mutants was assayed by their ability to be serially passaged in Nicotiana benthamiana protoplasts using crude sap as inoculum, and complete and partial virus particles were analyzed by serologically specific electron microscopy. Deletion mutagenesis revealed that p33, p6, p18, p13, p20, and p23 genes were not needed for virion formation. However, deletion of either minor- or major-coat protein resulted in formation of short particles which failed to be serially transferred in protoplasts, suggesting that both coat proteins are required for efficient virion assembly. Deletion or mutation of HSP70h and/or p61 dramatically reduced passage and formation of full-length virions. Frameshift mutations suggested that the HSP70h and p61 proteins, not the RNA sequences, were needed for virion assembly. Substitution of the key amino acid residues in the ATPase domain of HSP70h, Asp(7) to Lys or Glu(180) to Arg, reduced assembly, suggesting that the chaperone-like ATPase activity is involved in assembly. Both HSP70h and p61 proteins appeared to contribute equally to assembly, consistent with coordinate functions of these proteins in closterovirus virion formation. The requirement of two accessory proteins in addition to both coat proteins for efficient assembly is uniquely complex for helical virions.