An Unusual Feature at the N-terminal end of the Coat Protein of Maize dwarf mosaic virus isolated in Hungary

Maize dwarf mosaic is the most widespread virus disease affecting corn production in Hungary. In attempts to identify the causal virus by test plant reactions, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), only Maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) was detected. To further characterize Hungarian isolates of MDMV, one isolate from each of the sweet corn varieties Dallas, Royalty and GH23-85 was selected for sequence analysis of its coat protein (CP) gene. The three Hungarian isolates shared CP amino acid sequence similarities of 95–98% not only with one another but also with MDMV isolates from other countries. However, the N-terminus of the CP of the Dallas isolate was unusual in containing a stretch of 13 additional amino acids. This is the first report of variation in the size of the N-terminus of the MDMV CP.