COMPARISON OF SEQUENCES OF RNA-3 AND RNA-4 OF RICE STRIPE VIRUS FROM CHINA WITH THOSE OF JAPANESE ISOLATES

The sequences were determined of RNAs 3 and 4 of a Chinese isolate (Y) of rice stripe tenuivirus (RStV) and were compared with those of two RStV isolates (M and T) from Japan. Both RNAs of the Y isolate were lo nger than those of the M and T isolates, There was almost complete con servation in the 5' and 3' non-coding regions for each RNA between the isolates. The analogous ambisense coding regions for each isolate wer e exactly the same size and the sequences were highly conserved, The m ajor differences were in the intergenic regions, the sizes of which ac counted for the differences in size of each RNA of the three isolates, There were no obvious patterns of differences in comparisons of the t wo RNA over the three isolates. The significance of the similarities a nd differences in sequences of isolates of RStV separated by more than 3500 km is discussed.