Phylogenetic placement of a novel tenuivirus from the grass Urochloa plantaginea

Evidence is presented that a tenuivirus recovered from the grass Urochloa p lantaginea is probably a novel tenuivirus species, to be called Urochloa ho ja blanca virus (UHBV). It is related to both Echinochloa hoja blanca virus (EHBV) and Rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV), and these three form a group dis tinct from Maize stripe virus (MStV) and Rice stripe virus (RStV). Phylogen etic analysis of the sequence data for RNA-3 and RNA-4 of these viruses sup ports the hypothesis that EHBV and UHBV may have evolved from an ancestral form of RHBV, precipitated by the introduction of Echinochloa colona and Ur ochloa plantaginea to America.