Draft Genome Sequence of a Novel Iflavirus from Leafhoppers (Exitianus capicola) in Iraq

The draft genome sequence of a novel virus was determined from a leafhopper insect (Exitianus capicola) via transcriptomic sequencing and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Results of the sequence alignment suggested that the new virus is a member of the genus Iflavirus, family Iflaviridae. Thus, it was proposed to be named Exitianus capicola iflavirus 2 (ECIV2). ECIV2 has a single positive-strand RNA genome of 7,821 nucleotides [excluding the poly(A) tail] containing a single open reading frame (ORF) with typical iflavirus conserved domains, including a picornavirus capsid protein-like domain, a cricket paralysis virus capsid-like domain, a helicase, a peptidase, and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain.