Genetic variability and evolution of rice stripe virus

Rice stripe virus (RSV) is the type member of the genus Tenuivirus. RSV is known to have four segmented, single-stranded RNA molecules and causes rice stripe disease in the rice fields of China, Japan, and Korea. Based on the complete genomic sequences of the determined 6 RSV isolates (from Yunnan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Liaoning Provinces, China) and 27 other RSV isolates (from Yunnan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, and Shandong Provinces of China, also Japan and Korea) downloaded from GenBank, we provided a genotyping profile of RSV field isolates and described the population structure of RSV. All RSV isolates, except isolate CX, could be divided into two subtypes, one including 6 isolates from Yunnan Province, and the other including 26 isolates from different parts of China, Japan, and Korea, which were referred to as subtype II and subtype I, respectively. The amino acid distances between subtypes range from 0.053 to 0.085. RSV isolates in Yunnan Province were genetically differentiated from other parts of China, Japan, and Korea and showed infrequent gene flow. The RSV populations collected from other parts of China, Japan, and Korea were only composed of subtype I and showed very low genetic diversity. We speculated that isolate CX may be the result of recombination of isolates from two subtypes. Two potential recombination events were detected in RNA4 of isolate CX.