The Genomic Characteristics of a Novel Partitivirus Infecting Industrial Hemp in Yunnan, China

In this study, we identified a novel partitivirus infecting industrial hemp (<i>Cannabis sativa</i> L.), named as industrial hemp cryptic virus (IHCV). The complete genome sequence of IHCV comprises two RNA segments: dsRNA1 (1683 nt) encoding an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp, 481 aa), and dsRNA2 (1669 nt) encoding a coat protein (CP, 417 aa). Comparative sequence analyses revealed that RdRp shares 68.10% amino acid similarity with the Citrullus lanatus cryptic virus (CiLCV), while the CP exhibits 35.80% similarity with the vitis cryptic virus (VCV). Moreover, phylogenetic analysis showed that both the RdRp and CP proteins of IHCV clustered together with the pepper cryptic virus 1 (PCV1), which belongs to the genus <i>Deltapartitivirus</i>. Seeds detection assays revealed seed infection rates ranging from 20% to 90% among different industrial hemp cultivars. This is the first report of a novel partitivirus virus infecting industrial hemp.