Complete genome sequence and construction of an infectious full-length cDNA clone of zucchini tigre mosaic virus isolate infecting snake gourd

Abstract Zucchini tigre mosaic virus (ZTMV) is a single-stranded positive RNA virus that belongs to the genus Potyvirus. In this study, infectious full-length cDNA clone of ZTMV infecting snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina L.) was constructed, which was infectious to the cucurbit plants tested, including snake gourd, Chieh-qua, zucchini, ridge gourd and bitter melon. The complete genome sequence of ZTMV-FS7 (PP291701) was determined. Its entire nucleotide sequence shared the highest identity with ZTMV-TW (86.2%). The P1 amino acid sequence of ZTMV-FS7 exhibited the highest sequence diversity, reaching up to 60.2%, which surpassed the diversity observed in other genomic regions.