Characterization of a Subgenomic DNA Isolated from Triticum aestivum Plants Infected with Wheat Dwarf Virus

A subgenomic DNA has been isolated from wheat tissue infected with a Swedish isolate of wheat dwarf virus and cloned. Restriction endonuclease analysis and nucleotide sequence determination indicated that the subgenomic DNA (1472 nucleotides) was derived from the genomic DNA (2749 nucleotides) by two separate deletions. The subgenomic DNA had lost open reading frames (ORFs) encoding the virus coat protein and a putative protein of Mr 10146, but retained an ORF and an open reading region encoding putative proteins of Mr 30156 and 17292, respectively, and two structural features thought to be important for virus DNA replication i.e. a potentially stable stem-loop structure containing the conserved TAATATTAC sequence and a putative primer initiation site.