Genomic characterization of pararetroviral sequences in wild Dahlia spp. in natural habitats.

The genome structure and organization of endogenous caulimovirus sequences from dahlia ( Dahlia spp), dahlia mosaic virus (DMV)-D10 from three wild species, D. coccinea (D10-DC), D. sherffii (D10-DS) and D. tenuicaulis (D10-DT), were determined and compared to those from cultivated species of dahlia, D. variabilis (DvEPRS). The complete ca. 7-kb dsDNA genomes of D10-DC, D10-DS, and D10-DT had a structure and organization typical of a caulimovirus and shared 89.3 to 96.6% amino acid sequence identity in various open reading frames (ORF) when compared to DvEPRS . The absence of the aphid transmission factor and the truncated coat protein fused with the reverse transcriptase ORF were common among these DMV-D10 isolates from wild Dahlia species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]