Complete nucleotide sequence and phylogenetic classification of the RNA3 from cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) strain: Kor

The complete nucleotide sequence (2,222 nucleotides) of the RNA3 in the cucumber mosaic virus strain Kor (CMV-Kor) isolated from Nicotiana tabacum cv. Burley21 in Korea was determined and compared with those of 7 other cucumber mosaic virus strains at both the nucleotide and amino acid levels. The RNA3 of CMV-Kor possesses two open reading frames which encode the 3a protein (280 amino acids) and the coat protein (218 amino acids). Sequence analysis confirmed the previous biological and serological classification of the RNA3 molecule of CMV-Kor in subgroup I. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of CMV-Kor showed that the highest degree of homology was found in the strain Y of CMV (96.4%) while the average similarity to the other subgroup was much lower (76.0%).