Full-genome sequence of a novel potyvirus infecting Sauropus androgynus

In the present study, the full-genome sequence of a novel potyvirus, provisionally named "Sauropus androgynus potyvirus 1" (SAPV1), was determined using a combination of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) contig assembly, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) PCR. The full-genome sequencing of SAPV1, excluding the 3' poly(A) tail, was 10,365 nucleotides long and encoded a large polyprotein comprising 3,315 amino acids. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis based on the multiple sequence alignment of the polyprotein sequence revealed that SAPV1 clustered with the genus Potyvirus as a monophyletic clade, with its closest evolutionary relative being the Plum pox virus (PPV). BLAST searches revealed that the polyprotein sequence of SAPV1 shares the highest amino acid sequence identity of 45.6% with known viruses, with the highest being PPV. According to the species demarcation criteria of the family Potyviridae and the phylogenetic analysis, we propose that SAPV1 represents a novel member of the genus Potyvirus, infecting Sauropus androgynus, a plant widely used in medicine and the food industry.