九州に発生するイネ縞葉枯ウイルス (RSV) は中国東部に発生する RSV と強い類縁関係がある

A severe resurgence of rice stripe disease caused by Rice stripe virus (RSV) has occurred in several regions of Kyushu district, Japan. This phenomenon is associated with the longdistance migration of viruliferous vector insects such as the small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus) from China. The authors collected viruliferous vector insects and infected rice plants from Kyushu and eastern China in 2008, and then performed cloning and DNA sequencing of RT-PCR products of RNA viral genomes amplified from these samples. The nucleocapsid protein and adjacent intergenic region sequences were then used for phylogenetic analysis. Based on this analysis, RSV populations in Kyushu were indistinguishable from those in eastern China. This indicates that RSVs from Kyushu and eastern China are closely related to each other and genetically different from RSVs in the Kanto district. The present paper provides the fi rst description of the molecular traits of RSVs from Kyushu.