ECHINOCHLOA HOJA BLANCA AND RICE HOJA BLANCA VIRUSES OCCUPY DISTINCT ECOLOGICAL NICHES

This study provides both direct and indirect evidence that, in Costa R ica, rice hoja blanca virus and Echinochloa hoja blanca virus occupy d istinct ecological niches, implying that their molecular differences a re the result of evolutionary divergence rather than variation within a single virus population. For this reason they should be considered s eparate virus species, rather than strains of a single species.