Ten Japanese field isolates of beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) were transmitted to Tetragonia expansa by inoculation with sap from rootlets of sugar-beet seedlings, to which the virus had been transmitted by the fungus Polymyxa betae. RNA extracted from BNYVV particles obtained from the T. expansa leaves was analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Some isolates contained RNA-1 (7.1 kb), RNA-2 (4.8 kb), RNA-3 (1.85 kb) and RNA-4 (1.5 kb) and the others contained, in addition, RNA-5 (1.4 kb). Further isolates, derived from single lesions produced by these isolates, had a variety of RNA compositions. Some contained only RNA-I and RNA-2. Others contained, in addition, RNA-3, RNA-4, RNA-5 or RNA-6 (1.0 kb), or combinations of two or three of these components. Such isolates generally maintained their RNA composition on further subculture, and their particles had length distributions corresponding to their RNA components. Isolates containing RNA-I + 2 + 3 caused yellow or strongly chlorotic local lesions in T. expansa, Beta vulgaris, B. macrocarpa and Chenopodium quinoa, and caused systemic stunting and yellow mosaic in B. macrocarpa and, occasionally, in B. vulgaris. In contrast, isolates containing RNA-1 + 2 + 4 or 1 + 2 + 5 induced chlorotic lesions, those containing RNA-1 + 2 + 6 or 1 + 2 induced faint chlorotic lesions, and none of these isolates easily infected B. macrocarpa systemically. Isolates containing different combinations of RNA-3,-4 and -5 induced more severe symptoms than those containing a single RNA. Such synergistic effects occurred between RNA-3 and RNA-4 or RNA-5, or between RNA-4 and RNA-5 or RNA-6, but not between RNA-3 and RNA-6, or between RNA-5 and RNA-6. These small RNA species therefore contain the genetic determinant(s) for lesion type and for ability to infect B. vulgaris and B. macrocarpa systemically. RNA-1 and RNA-2 are viral genome components. The other RNA components have some characteristics of viral satellite nucleic acids but they may not all be dispensable if the BNYVV isolates are to survive in nature.

A transposable element that is active in intact plants has been identified in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The 607-bp element itself, termed nonautonomous DNA-based active rice transposon (nDart), has no coding capacity. It was found inserted in the gene encoding Mg-protoporphyrin IX methyltransferase in a chlorophyll-deficient albino mutant isolated from backcross progeny derived from a cross between wild-type japonica varieties. The nDart has 19-bp terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) and, when mobilized, generates an 8-bp target-site duplication (TSD). At least 13 nDart elements were identified in the genome sequence of the japonica cultivar Nipponbare. Database searches identified larger elements, termed DNA-based active rice transposon (Dart) that contained one ORF for a protein that contains a region with high similarity to the hAT dimerization motif. Dart shares several features with nDart, including identical TIRs, similar subterminal sequences and the generation of an 8-bp TSD. These shared features indicate that the nonautonomous element nDart is an internal deletion derivative of the autonomous element Dart. We conclude that these active transposon systems belong to the hAT superfamily of class II transposons. Because the transposons are active in intact rice plants, they should be useful tools for tagging genes in studies of functional genomics.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus watermelon strain SH (CGMMV-SH) was determined using cloned cDNA. This sequence is 6421 nucleotides long containing at least four open reading frames, which correspond to 186K, 129K, 29K and 17.3K proteins. The 17.3K protein is the coat protein. Sequence analysis shows that CGMMV-SH is very closely related to another watermelon strain, CGMMV-W, although three amino acid substitutions in the 29K protein were found between these strains. The sequence was also compared to those of other tobamoviruses, tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) vulgare, TMV-L (a tomato strain) and tobacco mild green mosaic virus reported by other groups. It shows 55 to 56% identity with these viruses. The size and location of the open reading frames are very similar to those of TMV but the 129K and 186K proteins are composed of 1142 and 1646 amino acids, being larger than those of TMV by 27 and 31 amino acids, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of these proteins are highly homologous to those of TMV, especially in the readthrough downstream region of the 186K protein.

The complete nucleotide sequences of beet necrotic yellow vein virus RNA-1 to RNA-4 of the Japanese isolate S (BNYVV-S) were determined and compared with those of French isolate (BNYVV-F2). The nucleotide sequences of the two isolates were very similar, differing by only 1.7% (RNA-1), 4.1% (RNA-2), 2.9% (RNA-3) and 3.6% (RNA-4), respectively. The differences of the amino acid sequences of the two isolates depended upon the open reading frames (ORF) as follows: P237, 1.4%; P22 (coat protein), 2.1%; 54k ORF, 3.4%; P42, 0.5%; P13, 1.7%; P15, 3.0%; P14, 7.0% P25, 6.4%; P31, 3.5%. Comparison of the coat protein and triple gene block (P42, P13 and P15) regions of RNA-2 with other isolates revealed that BNYVV-S was much more similar to the Yugoslavian isolate (BNYVV-Yu2) than to BNYVV-F2. The nucleotide differences between BNYVV-S and BNYVV-Yu2 were less than 1%. Based upon the grouping of BNYVV variants reported by Kruse et al. [10], BNYVV-S is thus considered to belong to the A type along with BNYVV-Yu2, whereas BNYVV-F2 is classified in the B type. Our data suggest that the Japanese isolate S may have been derived from European countries other than France or Germany.

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