Soybean blotchy mosaic virus, a New Cytorhabdovirus Found in South Africa

A previously unidentified plant Rhabdovirus sp. associated with a blotchy mosaic symptom of soybean (Glycine max), prevalent in the lower-lying, warmer soybean production areas of South Africa, was isolated and partially characterized. The virus was shown to be transmitted by mechanical inoculation and at least one species of leafhopper (Peragallia caboverdensis Lindberg (Cicadellidae, Agalliinae)). To determine the morphology and virion size, as well as intercellular accumulation, negative-stained preparations or embedded ultrathin sections of infected plant samples were observed under a transmission electron microscope. The distribution of the virions within the cytoplasm and its bullet-shaped morphology and size (338 to 371 nm by 93 nm) suggested that it is a putative member of the genus Cytorhabdovirus. Degenerate primers designed to a conserved region of the polymerase gene of a number of Rhabdovirus spp. were used in reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction with total RNA from symptomatic plants as template. Amplicons were sequenced and compared with related sequences available on GenBank. The analysis confirmed that the virus was related to Cytorhabdovirus spp., with the highest nucleotide similarity being 60.7% with Northern cereal mosaic virus. The particle morphology, typical virion accumulation in the cytoplasm of infected cells, nucleotide sequence similarity with that of other plant Rhabdovirus spp., and unique symptoms on soybean suggest that the virus is a previously unknown Cytorhabdovirus sp., for which we propose the name Soybean blotchy mosaic virus (SbBMV).