Detection and characterization of pangola stunt Fijivirus from Australia using cloned cDNA probes

Four cDNA clones were generated from the genomic dsRNA of an Australian isolate of pangola stunt Fijivirus (PaSV). Each clone hybridized with nucleic acid extracts from PaSV infected plants but not healthy plants. Further, each clone hybridized with more than one segment of the PaSV dsRNA genome. One clone was used to demonstrate that homology existed between the Australian isolate of PaSV and a South American isolate of PaSV although the isolates differed in the sizes of the genomic dsRNAs and in the vector species. The clone also hybridized with some segments of the maize rough dwarf Fijivirus genome.