Characterization of a new picorna-like virus, himetobi P virus, in planthoppers

Picorna-like virus particles, 29 nm in diameter, were purified from apparently healthy Laodelphax striatellus Fallen. The virus particles had a buoyant density of 1.352 g/ml in CsCl and a sedimentation coefficient of 161 s. The virus capsid proteins consisted of three major polypeptides of M(r)s 36,500, 33,000 and 28,000, and three minor polypeptides. The virus contained a major ssRNA of M(r) 2.8 x 10(6) and was also frequently associated with a minor dsRNA of M(r) 4 x 10(6). The 3' end of the ssRNA had a poly(A) tract of about 60 adenine residues. The virus has been provisionally named himetobi P virus.