Investigation of ORF0 as a sensitive alternative diagnostic segment to detect

The worldwide distribution of (SCYLV) has led several research groups to study the function of the viral genome, the role of open reading frames (ORFs), their influence on virus accumulation and methods for diagnosis. The detection of SCYLV is usually based on the viral coat protein whether using serological and/or molecular techniques. In this study, ORF0 has been used as a diagnostic segment for SCYLV due to its highly conserved region in all SCYLV isolates. The results revealed that, ORF0 was expressed more consistently in all cultivars. In contrast, the expression of the coat protein varied. The RNA poleroviruses sequences of ORF0 were variable compared with the same segment of SCYLV populations. Analysis of the amino acid sequence of the ORF0 translation product revealed the presence of a potential transmembrane domain. The relatively high content of hydrophobic amino acids in the ORF0 protein further suggests that it may serve as a membrane anchor for the replication complex.